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HOW TO KNOW 
THE BIBLE 

MASTERING THE BOOKS 
OF THE BIBLE 



BY 
ROBERT ALLEN ARMSTRONG, L.H.D. 

Head of the Department of English of 
West Virginia University 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER, LL.D. 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction 
of Pennsylvania 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



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Copyright, 1916, 
By ROBERT ALLEN ARMSTRONG 

Copyright, 1922, 
By ROBERT ALLEN ARMSTRONG 



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tmp96 025245 



Printed in the United States of America 



AUG 18 '22 

©CI.A681428 



TO 
MY WIFE 

MYRA LOUISE 



PREFACE 

It is the object of this book to aid those who would 
like to master a book of the Bible as they master a 
secular classic, to get at its great message and at the 
same time enjoy its wonderful literature. The author 
will attempt to give this aid by showing the value, sig- 
nificance, and beauty of Bible literature ; by furnishing 
materials out of which the student may construct the 
proper setting, atmosphere and background for his read- 
ing; by presenting and explaining a fruitful method 
of study; and by giving many type-studies to illustrate 
the application of this method. 

It will be observed that the word Bible is used in 
these pages as if all of the sixty-six books were included 
in the studies ; but the fact is that the illustrative type- 
studies are all taken from the Old Testament. 

Most of the Bible quotations are from the Authorized 
Version because it is real English literature; but other 
versions have been used when the meaning of particu- 
lar lines and passages could be made clearer. 

A large part of the material of the chapters of the 
book has been accumulated in the form of lectures given 
in a course of study which has been offered for a num- 
ber of years at "West Virginia University. 

Special thanks are due to my colleagues, Professor 
Simeon C. Smith, Dr. L. D. Arnett, and Professor David 
Dale Johnson, who have given the author valuable 
advice and have kindly read the manuscript. 

R. A. A. 
Morgantown, W. Va., January 1, 1916. 



INTRODUCTION 

In the year 1913 the Pennsylvania legislature passed 
an act requiring in every public school the daily reading 
of at least ten verses from the Holy Bible and imposing 
upon school directors the duty of dismissing every 
teacher who fails to comply with this legislation. "While 
this legislation was pending, it was predicted outside of 
the State that its enactment into law would be followed 
by riots and bloodshed. The prediction has not been 
fulfilled. The history of Pennsylvania has never been 
stained by the burning of witches nor by any other form 
of religious persecution. The teachers have shown them- 
selves to be law-abiding citizens, and the people although 
professing many and various creeds, have shown a most 
commendable spirit of religious toleration as well as a 
most remarkable appreciation of the value of daily Bible 
reading. 

It was of course not the aim of the legislature to in- 
troduce religious teaching into the public schools. The 
duty of teaching religion belongs to the home, to the 
Sunday school, and to the church with its various agen- 
cies. Teachers in high schools and colleges have some- 
times been known to go out of their way for the purpose 
of throwing doubt upon the religious faith of the pupil 
or the pupil's parents. A worse service can not be ren- 
dered by those who are engaged in education. Destroy 
the sense of obligation to a supreme being and you have 
robbed the child of one of the strongest incentives to an 
upright life. 

In eight or nine of the States the Bible has been ex- 
cluded from the public schools either by decisions of the 
supreme court of the State, or by opinions of its attorney 
general, or by rulings of the state superintendent of 
schools. It does not follow that such exclusion neces- 
sarily makes the schools godless. The schools become god- 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION 

less when put in charge of godless teachers. As long as 
the fear of God and the love of righteousness abide in the 
teacher's heart, so long can it be assumed and asserted 
that the schools are not godless. Nevertheless, the child 
loses much if it grows up without the molding influence 
of the daily reading of the Book of books. Abraham Lin- 
coln had access to few books in his early life. But the 
marvelous English of King James's version permeated his 
thinking and molded his diction. A letter from his pen 
written to a mother who had lost five sons in the Civil 
War, is treasured at Oxford University as the finest speci- 
men of letter writing in the English language. His Get- 
tysburg speech has been read and studied as a master- 
piece of English in thousands of our public schools and 
bears unmistakable testimony to the molding influence 
of the literary style of the English Bible. "When Kos- 
suth was preparing to visit England and America, he 
studied three books, Johnson's dictionary, the writings of 
Shakespeare, and the King James version of the Bible. 
His eloquent command of English gave him unrivaled 
power over the audiences which he addressed in the 
United States. Father Faber who renounced Protes- 
tantism and joined the Catholic Church, says, of our 
English Bible: "Who will say that the uncommon 
beauty and marvelous English of the Protestant Bible is 
not one of the great strongholds of heresy in this coun- 
try? It lives on the ear like a music that can never be 
forgotten, like the sound of church bells which the con- 
vert scarcely knows how he can forego. Its felicities 
seem often to be almost things rather than words. It is 
part of a national mind and the author of the national 
seriousness. Nay, it is worshiped with a positive idol- 
atry, in extenuation of whose fanaticism its intrinsic 
beauty pleads availingly with the scholar. The memory 
of the dead passes into it. The potent traditions of child- 
hood are stereotyped in its verses. It is the representa- 
tive of a man's best moments; all that there has been 
about him of soft and gentle and pure and penitent and 
good speaks to him forever out of his English Bible. It 
is his sacred thing which doubt never dimmed and con- 
troversy never soiled, and in the length and breadth of 



INTRODUCTION 9 

the land there is not one Protestant with one spark of 
religiousness about him whose spiritual biography is not 
in his Saxon Bible." 

Of course everything depends upon the spirit and the 
way in which the Bible is read. I have seen it read 
amid so much noise and irreverence that the reading had 
better been omitted. The Old Testament may be studied 
for the sake of finding questionable cases of morality in 
the lives of David and Solomon and the Patriarchs. 
Such study may be harmful to youths in the adolescent 
period. The inhabitants of India study the English 
Bible in order that they may understand Milton's "Para- 
dise Lost" and "Paradise Regained" and other English 
classics. Surely such study of biblical literature is 
justifiable. ' Teachers of pedagogy sometimes use the Bi- 
ble to show the wisdom in the methods of the greatest 
teacher of all the ages. Such use is very helpful to 
teachers. But the legislation which prescribes the daily 
reading of the Bible in the public schools has undoubtedly 
a different aim. The Bible is the loftiest code of ethics 
which the human race possesses. It should be read and 
studied for purposes of moral instruction and devotional 
uplift. 

The parent or the teacher who expects the daily read- 
ing of ten verses from the sacred Scriptures to solve the 
problem of moral training will of course be disappointed. 
The Bible may be abused. A pious father, when his son 
was bad, made him learn ten Bible verses by heart, and 
when the boy was very bad, he had to memorize and 
recite one hundred verses. He grew up hating the Bible 
as an instrument of punishment, and his adult years 
have been very unsatisfactory from the ethical point of 
view. Moreover, much biblical knowledge does not 
touch the heart out of which are the issues of life. For 
instance, the fact that the books of the Bible were origi- 
nally not divided into chapters and verses, that the divi- 
sion into chapters was made in the early part of the thir- 
teenth century, and that the division of the chapters into 
verses was made after the art of printing had been in- 
vented (about the middle of the sixteenth century) by a 
printer on horseback fleeing from Paris to Switzerland to 



10 INTRODUCTION 

escape persecution, — this is interesting information, but 
it does not shape the life and conduct of the individual 
nor lift him to higher planes of effort and aspiration. 
Moreover, for ethical purposes biblical literature should 
be supplemented by other instruction. The Bible does 
not tell the reader to brush his teeth or to avoid the ciga- 
rette habit, and yet these are, for the youth, duties as im- 
perative as going to church or saying his prayers. The 
secular literature which the ages have produced contains 
much which we can not afford to despise or neglect in 
the ethical training of the young. This admission does 
not detract one iota from the importance of daily reading 
of the sacred Scriptures. 

The Protestant Reformation is based upon two cardinal 
principles: 1. Man is justified by faith. 2. The Bible 
is the only rule of religious faith and practice. If the 
Bible is to be a guide to faith and conduct, it must be 
read and studied and understood. Herein lay the prime 
motives for the establishment of schools for the common 
people. Schmid's Encyclopaedia is authority for the 
statement that as early as 1640 it was impossible in Swe- 
den to find any one above the age of ten who was unable 
to read and write. In the court records of Upland (now 
Chester) where the Swedes first settled on the Delaware 
Eiver, there is given the action of a teacher who recovered 
pay from a father who had agreed to pay two hundred 
guilders if his children were taught to read the Scrip- 
tures in a specified number of months. Facts like these 
show the stress that was laid by the early settlers upon 
the knowledge of the Bible. And that stress is being 
renewed through the attention which the twentieth cen- 
tury is concentrating upon the Old and New Testaments. 

The ensuing treatise on the literature of the Old 
Testament is evidence of the revival of interest in the 
books of the Bible. A lecturer at a teachers' institute 
spoke of the beautiful story of Euth, a teacher of Eng- 
lish in the high school who had graduated from a uni- 
versity, asked the name of the publisher; she did not 
even know the names of the books of the Old Testament. 
How teachers can manage to teach English literature 
where the Bible has been excluded from the school, is a 



INTRODUCTION 11 

problem which modern pedagogy has been unable to 
solve. If this volume serves to point out anew what 
every intelligent man should know about the Old Testa- 
ment, if it helps to give parents, teachers, and pupils a 
better appreciation of the Bible narratives and their 
value from a literary as well as an ethical point of view, 
if it brings the reader to a more adequate conception of 
the thoughts and ideas which lie at the foundation of 
Christian civilization, and if it succeeds in emphasizing 
the beauties and verities upon which the saints of all the 
ages have fed their souls, it will prove, we may con- 
fidently hope, a most important contribution to our 
educational literature. Two quotations must suffice to 
show the value of such a contribution. "A gilt-clasped 
Bible, " says Arnold Bennett, "is the secret of England's 
greatness." "When the history of twentieth-century 
culture shall be written," adds Professor Rankin, "no 
feature of that culture will be more noteworthy than the 
increasingly conscious recognition of the unclasped Bible 
as an impelling force and guide in the life of men of 
Anglo-Saxon civilization." 

Nathan C. Schaeffer. 
Harrishurg, Pa. 

March 30, 1916. 



TABLE OF. CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 5 

Introduction 7 

Chapter I Method of Mastery 17 

Present-day ignorance of the Bible. Not an open 
book for the people. Preliminary preparation. General 
knowledge of value and significance. Circumstances of 
time and place. Mood and purpose of each author. Cor- 
rectness and authenticity of texts. Reading books as 
wholes. Wrong methods of study. The synthetic 
method. General directions. Four typical analyses: of 
Genesis, of Judges, of Amos and of The Stories of the 
Two Prophets. 

CULTURE VALUE OF THE BIBLE. 

Chapter II Its Educational Value 35 

Its emphasis on the value of human life. Its solutions 
of the practical problems of life. Its rich materials: for 
nourishing the life of the spirit. Its provision for the 
cultivating of man's aesthetic nature. Its high moral 
ideals, individual and national. 

Chapter III Its Value as Literature 44 

The critical study of the books of the Bible not ir- 
reverent. Their message made clear by such study. The 
impress of this literature left on secular literature and 
everyday speech. Acquaintance with Bible literature the 
best preparation for the interpretation of secular litera- 
ture. Interesting reading in rich and satisfying perfec- 
tion. The best examples of great literature. A litera- 
ture of power. 

THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Chapter IV Origin and Growth of the Books of the 

Bible 59 

The books have a natural and a supernatural history. 
Materials and composition. Old manuscript copies. 
The canon. Ancient versions. English versions. 

Chapter V Resume of the Contents of Each Book . . 70 
The books of the Pentateuch. The historical books. 
The books of poetry. The books of the Major Prophets. 
The books of the Minor Prophets. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

OLD TESTAMENT STORIES. 
Chapter VI Characteristics of Old Testament Stories 89 
The Great Teacher's use of stories. Valuable for 
many purposes: To entertain, to instruct, to portray 
life, to teach moral lessons, to furnish material for the 
education of children. Illustrative stories: Samson and 
the Philistines, The Offering of Isaac, The Fable of the 
Trees, The One Ewe Lamb. 

Chapter VII Genesis as a Story Book for Children . 95 
Characteristics of these stories that make them suit- 
able for children. The Great Separation, or Paradise 
and the Fall. Cain and Abel: A Lesson of Self -Control. 
Noah and the Flood. 

Chapter VIII The Book of Ruth . 105 

The story. Analysis and Comment. 

Chapter IX The Book of Esther 113 

The story. Analysis and Comment. 

Chapter X The Book of Jonah 124 

The story. Analysis and Comment. 

OLD TESTAMENT POETRY. 
Chapter XI Characteristics of Old Testament Poetry 131 
Noble qualities of Hebrew poetry. Its form. Shorter 
lyrics. Greater poems. A study of David's Lament. A 
study of the Song of Deborah. 

Chapter XII The Book of Psalms 142 

Divisions, five books. The number of the psalms. 
Gradual growth of the Hebrew Psalter. Titles of indi- 
vidual psalms. The psalms of David. Interpretation of 
individual psalms: Psalm I, Psalm XXIV, Psalm XIX, 
Psalm XXIX. 

Chapter XIII The Book of Job 153 

Authorship. A great drama. Its theme. The char- 
acters of the drama. Divisions of the drama. Inter- 
pretation of the poem : ( 1 ) The prologue ; ( 2 ) the de- 
bate ; ( 3 ) Elihu's interposition ; ( 4 ) the Voice out of the 
whirlwind; (5) the epilogue; (6) problems of the book 
and solutions offered. 

Chapter XIV The Song of Songs 166 

Difficulties of interpretation. A series of wedding 
songs. A drama with two, or three, characters. A brief 
synopsis of the story. 

Interpretation in five acts and thirteen scenes: 
Introductory information. 

Act I, King Solomon tries to win favor of captive 
Shulamite. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Act II. She declares her devotion to her shepherd 

lover. 
Act III. The Shulamite taken to Jerusalem with the 

court. 
Act IV. She still protests her allegiance to her 

shepherd lover. 
Act V. Love has won. The Shulamite returns to 

her lover and her vineyards. 
Comments on the form and meaning of the poem. 
Appreciation of the Song by Canon Driver. 

BOOKS OUTSIDE THE CANON. 

Chapter XV Old Testament Apocrypha 177 

Definition of the term Apocrypha. Brief account of 
each of the fourteen Apocryphal compositions of the Old 
Testament. The Book of Ecclesiasticus. Additions to 
the Book of Daniel: The Story of Susanna, the Story 
of Bel and the Dragon, Daniel in the Lion's Den. The 
Book of Judith. The Book of Tobit. 

APPENDIX. 

Section 1 Geography of Palestine 193 

Section 2 A Brief Outline of Hebrew History . . .196 
Section 3 The Chronological Setting of the Books of 

the Old Testament 199 

Section 4 List of the Great Stories of the Old Testa- 
ment 202 

Section 5 The Bible Student's Library 204 



MASTERING THE BOOKS OF 
THE BIBLE 



CHAPTER I 

METHOD OP MASTERY 

Amos, in the eighth chapter of his prophecy, makes the 
following declaration: "Behold, the day is come, saith 
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not 
a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing 
the words of the Lord; and they shall wander from sea 
to sea and from the North even to the East, they shall 
ran to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall 
not find it." 

If one were inclined to be pessimistic and satirical, he 
might interpret this passage by saying that Amos looked 
forward to these days and had in mind the woeful ig- 
norance of the Bible which prevails to-day. It is hard 
to explain why such a condition exists but may it not be 
accounted for partly by the methods we use in studying 
the Bible ? We do not read it or study it as we do any 
other book, yet it ought not to be thought irreverent to 
study it as closely and critically as we do any secular 
book, and to use the same methods that are used with 
success in the interpretation of secular masterpieces. 

There is no question that the Bible was intended to be 
an open book for the people, but it does not yield its 
meaning to a careless or superficial reader, not even to 
a very earnest one, unless he uses an effective method. It 
is the object of this volume to present such a method. 
It may be called the "literary and historical" method 
as opposed to the "theological and textual" method. It 

17 



18 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

aims to get at the meaning of passages and books as one 
would interpret the meaning of secular literature. 
The method requires careful preliminary preparation in 
order that the student may bring to his study knowledge 
with which to interpret what is new, and enthusiasm to 
sustain him in his difficulties. 

In the first place, if the student is convinced that there 
is "pay ore" in the mine he is going to work, he will go 
at his task with assured zeal. Chapters II and III of 
this volume are presented for the purpose of showing 
what a rich mine of material for education and culture is 
found in the old Hebrew volume. An effort is made to 
impress the reader with the fact that when he is study- 
ing these books he is becoming acquainted with a volume 
that has influenced the intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic, 
and practical life of the world as no other volume has ever 
done. He should approach his study knowing and feel- 
ing this wonderful fact. 

Another thing of equal importance is that the reader 
should put himself, as far as possible, in the place of 
the author of each book, so that the circumstances of 
time and place, the mood and purpose of the author may 
aid him in getting at the genuine meaning of the book. 
The Bible had its origin in antiquity amid Oriental sur- 
roundings, and hence has local allusions liable to be mis- 
understood by people of later ages and Western lands. 
No other book in the world is more influenced by the 
surroundings and experiences of its writers. It is im- 
portant, then, that the student of the Bible should learn 
something of the land in which it was written. He 
should be impressed with the fact that this book, which 
is a world book in its interest and application, came 
from a land which reproduces almost all the features of 
world geography. In order that the student may better 
understand the book, let him first read Section 1 of the 
Appendix of this volume as a sort of introduction to the 
geography of Palestine. 

Although the Bible sets forth eternal truth, that truth 
is presented in the words and literary forms of par- 
ticular ages, according to the modes of thought of par- 
ticular periods of history and of a particular country. 



METHOD OF MASTERY 19 

So, if the student would discover its true meaning, he 
must put himself in the circumstances of the authors 
and try to think and feel as they did. As an aid to such 
sympathy and understanding Section 2 of the Appendix 
is offered. Here will be found a brief outline of He- 
brew history and a condensed statement of that history 
as related to the different books of the Bible. There is 
given, also, a scheme of Hebrew chronology into which 
are fitted all the books of the Bible, each in its proper 
place. The chronology and circumstances of a book's 
origin are important because each epoch has its own 
special characteristics, and any national literature can 
not be understood except with a knowledge of the times 
which produced it. Of course biblical literature is dif- 
ferent from other literatures in its wonderful inspira- 
tion, but it bears also the stamp of the general laws which 
influence any national literature ; and acquaintance with 
the times in which it was produced is necessary to an 
accurate interpretation of its meaning and spirit. 
(Since these sections are for reference rather than for 
reading, they are placed in the Appendix.) 

It is not necessary to say to the intelligent Bible reader 
that no man living has read the original copy of a single 
book of the Bible; but it is true, and all readers must 
depend upon copies, indeed upon copies of copies made 
through the centuries. It is somewhat reassuring, how- 
ever, to know that we have a few copies of the Bible in 
manuscript form dating back more than 1500 years. 
Chapter IV, the Origin and Growth of the Books of the 
Bible, gives an account of three of these most precious 
manuscript copies, and the story of its origin, and mi- 
raculous preservation through its many linguistic trans- 
formations down the centuries. 

Since the truths of the Bible are presented to us in 
the same literary forms that are used in secular litera- 
ture, it is well that each book should be approached in 
somewhat the same way that a student approaches the 
study of a secular masterpiece. The first important 
thing to know, then, about a book of the Bible is its gen- 
eral literary character. What sort of literature is it? 
Is it prose or poetry? If poetry, is it epic, lyric, or 



20 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

dramatic poetry? Is it historical narrative, drama, or 
proverbial philosophy? Does it set forth law, or par- 
ables, or prophecies? All these forms and many more 
are found in the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. 
To give the reader information concerning the nature and 
general character of the books of the Bible Chapter V 
of this volume is presented. 

But the feature of the method here presented which 
needs most to be emphasized, is the reading of the books 
of the Bible as wholes. Very few readers, even con- 
scientious and devoted students, have ever read a book 
of the Bible straight through. They fail to recognize 
the literary continuity of the books, though there most 
certainly is such continuity. "When one reads secular 
books he begins at the beginning and takes things in 
their order. If he is studying Shakespeare's "Hamlet" 
he begins with the first scene of the first act, then takes 
the second, the third, the fourth, and the fifth scene in 
order, then the scenes of the second, third, fourth, and 
fifth acts, to the conclusion. He never thinks of reading 
a scene in the middle of one of Shakespeare's plays out 
of all connection with what goes before and what comes 
after, at least if he expects to get at the author's mean- 
ing. Yet that is the very thing he does in his study of 
the Bible. 

The reader may try to persuade himself that he is 
doing conscientious work by studying isolated chapters 
and verses anywhere in the Bible from Genesis to Revela- 
tion. Can it be possible that these books of the Bible are 
not constructed like other books, with a beginning, a 
middle, and an end, with introduction, development, and 
conclusion, with order and arrangement, so that the first 
part lays the foundation for what follows, and the last 
part is better understood in the light of what has gone 
before? The fact is that these books of the Bible are 
just like other books in this respect. They are to be 
taken as units; there is the connecting thread which 
runs through from the beginning to the end; and it is 
absolutely necessary for one to study them in a logical 
way to keep from misunderstanding or misinterpreting 
many of the isolated passages. The light of the whole 



METHOD OF MASTERY 21 

chapter, the whole book, must be thrown on the indi- 
vidual passage or verse. 

The division of the chapters of the English Bible into 
paragraph verses was an unfortunate thing. Although 
the Hebrew Bible had some such division, the Geneva 
Bible was the first English version that split up the 
chapters into paragraph verses and numbered them in 
order. It is evident that this method of printing the 
Bible has been productive of much ignorance concerning 
the real meaning, the larger truth, of many of its books. 
It has led to the use of the Bible as a sort of dictionary 
of religion, such an arrangement being admirably suited 
for this use. Indeed, to a great many persons, the Bible 
is simply a collection of texts to which they may go to 
gather ammunition now to bombard an enemy, now to 
defend themselves. The multiplication of sects and 
creeds in the world proves that almost any sort of doc- 
trine can be supported, if one is allowed to select isolated 
passages and regard verses as having complete meaning 
when taken out of connection with chapter and book. 
It is too often the case that texts are interpreted with- 
out regard to their setting. A good illustration is the 
case of the Universalist divine who preached a sermon 
on immortality from the text "Thou shalt not surely 
die/' entirely oblivious of the fact that these were the 
words which the Devil spoke to Eve, and that his say- 
ings are not usually considered to be of unimpeachable 
orthodoxy. One may, for instance, quote a text from 
the Book of Job without explaining whether the words 
were spoken by Job or by one of his friends. For ex- 
ample, take these two passages: "Yea, the light of the 
wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall 
not shine' '; and "Wherefore do the wicked live, become 
old, yea are mighty in power? Their houses are safe 
from fear, neither is the rod of God against them." 
There is no reconciling these two passages unless there 
is taken into consideration the character of the Book of 
Job. The part of the book from which these quotations 
are taken is a debate. What Job affirms his friends 
deny ; what they affirm he denies ; they are fencing with 
one another. In such composition one would expect con- 



22 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

tradictions. The only way to understand and reconcile 
the conflicting statements and opinions is to remember 
the character of that part of the book. 

To illustrate the necessity of paying heed to the con- 
text in interpreting any passage, take a familiar quota- 
tion: "Conie unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. XI: 28). That 
is a beautiful and comforting text, but it has only the 
beauty of a fragment and the comfort of a misappre- 
hension ; for comfort is not promised on such easy terms. 
The context shows that there are other conditions that 
must be met: "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of 
Me." The invitation is not complete without these two 
additional sentences. Only one condition has been com- 
plied with when we have come to the Master; two others 
are necessary: submission and discipleship ; we must 
bear His yoke and must learn of Him. Both of these 
things are included in the teaching. Coming and learn- 
ing and service are equally important conditions in the 
attainment of the coveted rest. 

While the Bible has many short, terse sayings packed 
with thought, many luminous texts, it is by no means a 
string of aphorisms. The reader can not be sure of his 
interpretation of sentence or verse until he has seen what 
leads up to it and to what subsequent thoughts it is 
linked. Much more satisfactory is his study if he ex- 
tends his vision over the sentences of the context of a 
verse, over a whole chapter, a whole book; if he studies 
the Book of Job as a complete masterpiece ; if he studies 
the Book of Revelation as a unit; if he looks upon the 
Gospel of Luke as being a continuous and complete nar- 
rative to be studied all together. 

No one reads the lines of secular masterpieces as if 
they were complete in themselves and independent of 
setting and context; no one expects a single scene from 
"Hamlet" to give the author 's meaning in that great 
play; no one expects a sentence from one of Burke's 
great speeches to supply an adequate notion of his states- 
manlike grasp of thought; no one expects to get even 
partially a true impression of Daniel Webster unless he 
should read at least one of his great speeches. Why 



METHOD OF MASTEKY 23 

should he not study the books of the Bible in the same 
way? Why should he not read Joshua as he reads 
Caesar's '" Commentaries"? Solomon's Song as he reads 
' ' Romeo and Juliet ' ' ? Job as he reads ' ' Hamlet ' ' ? A 
great literary product is like a great masterpiece of 
architecture : the whole must stand out and be taken into 
account to reveal the master's thought. 

"Walk about Zion, and go round about her; 
Tell the towers thereof. 

Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; 
That ye may tell it to the generations following." 

The method of studying the Bible here recommended 
may be called the synthetic method. Such a method is 
both logical and pedagogical. In the study of geogra- 
phy, while it is proper to commence with a little home 
geography, after such a basis has been laid, the cor- 
rect method is to begin with the globe itself, then study 
the hemispheres, continents, nations, and smaller di- 
visions, in order. If one desires to get the best knowl- 
edge and the best view of a mountain region, he should 
go to the highest peak first, look out upon the whole 
range, and then he can intelligently and enthusiastically 
study the features of the lower levels in their relation to 
the whole area. Martin Luther said that he studied the 
Bible as he gathered apples. He shook the tree first, 
then the limbs, then the branches, and after that he 
reached out under the leaves for the remaining fruit. 
Such is the best method of study for the mastery of the 
books of the Bible. 

The following suggestions will be helpful to any one 
who desires to follow out a plan of systematic study of 
the Bible for a year or longer, reading a few pages every 
day and a whole book when possible. 

1. Begin at the beginning. It is much better to begin 
with Genesis and take the books in their regular order. 

2. Eead the book. It is not asked that it be studied in 
the ordinary sense, or memorized, or even understood 
fully at first ; simply read it. The purpose is to make the 
task as easy and natural and pleasant as possible. It 
does not matter much how rapidly you read, for the time 
being, if you only read. There is a great deal of study 



24 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

of the Bible by simply reading books that tell about the 
Bible. 

3. Bead it continuously. By continuously two things are 
meant: read the book uninfluenced by its division into 
chapters and verses ; and second, read it at a single sitting 
if it is not too long. The reason for reading a book at a 
single sitting is that many of the books of the Bible have 
a single thread running through the whole and it is nec- 
essary to follow this thread continuously and unbrokenly. 

4. Read it repeatedly. Mastery of a book can not be 
accomplished in one reading. Indeed the suggestion has 
been made in the second rule that the first reading may 
be rapid. By repeated readings the truth will grow upon 
one and a more familiar knowledge will make the whole 
book clearer and more impressive. 

5. Read it independently. By independently is meant, 
first of all, that it should be read without reference to 
commentaries and outside aids. These are, of course, in- 
valuable in their place, but in the mastery of the Eng- 
lish Bible, according to the plan suggested here, their 
place is not before but after one has got an outline of a 
given book for himself. (The student will find these sug- 
gestions elaborated in Dr. James M. Gray's little book, 
How to Master the English Bible.) 

The following brief analyses show the first steps in the 
method here presented. The analyses of the Book of 
Genesis, the Book of Judges, and the Book of Amos give 
the general survey with which the study of any book 
should begin and make clear the relation of the parts 
of each; the lesson plan for the study of the lives and 
deeds of the two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha. 
shows how related parts of books having so many threads 
of interests as the books of the Kings, may be brought 
together as a unit. 

Analysis of the Book of Genesis 

The Book of Genesis is divided into two parts. The 
first eleven chapters may bear the title: "The Begin- 
nings of Things, " the last thirty -nine, "The Story of the 
Chosen People as a Patriarchal Family." Of course 
only the main features, the central ideas, and the lead- 



METHOD OF MASTERY 25 

ing characters in the book can be touched upon in such 
a brief outline. The minor characters and incidents are 
numerous and interesting, but the first general view 
should be confined to the greatest and most significant 
facts and characters. 

I. The Beginnings of Things. 

1. The Story of Creation; a great poem, The Song of 
God and the Universe ; not so much a revelation of fact 
as of spiritual truth. 

2. Paradise and the Fall, the Story of Man's Separa- 
tion from God ; the most serious problem in the universe 
—Sin. 

3. Cain and Abel, the Story of Self -Control. "Am I 
my brother 's keeper ? ' ' 

4. The Great Flood ; corruption can not prevail on the 
earth; the bow of promise set in the heavens. 

5. The Origin of Nations; the sin of man's arrogance 
divides the human race into jealous, warring nations. 

II. The Chosen People as A Patriarchal Family. 

(XII-L.) 

The history set forth in these thirty -nine chapters cen- 
ters about the four great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob, and Joseph. The stories of the lives of these re- 
nowned men have shaped the ideals and the conduct of 
the Hebrew race through the succeeding centuries, and 
through the Bible have influenced the ideals and stand- 
ards of the whole world. 

1. Abraham. A pilgrim and a pioneer; a man of 
peace, yet a bold warrior ; a man of faith, the father of 
the faithful ; a man of noble character, perfected through 
testing and struggle. 

2. Isaac. A child of promise; the man of non-re- 
sistance; the average man who was great in his quiet 
work and unobtrusive ways. 

3. Jacob. A supplanter ; a Hebrew Ulysses ; a man of 
ambitions and ideals, changed by struggle and sobered 
by love and responsibility; a born leader; visions may 
encourage but only struggle can permanently change the 
character. 



26 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

4. Joseph. A spoiled child, but a dreamer; a boy in 
Canaan, he becomes at once a man in Egypt ; separation 
and responsibility make him strong and wise ; he is noble 
and unselfish and generously loyal to his brothers. The 
Joseph stories are dramatic, vivid, and striking; there 
is profound feeling, and a pathos that tugs at the heart- 
strings, incidents of deep human interest, all set forth 
in a style simple, picturesque, and charming. 

Analysis of the Book of Judges 

The Book of Judges is fragmentary and yet is com- 
posed according to a plan, definite though artificial. It 
may be divided into three parts, the preface, chapters I 
to III : 6 ; the body of the book, consisting of illustrative 
stories, chapters III : 7 to XVI ; and the appendix, chap- 
ters XVII to XXI. 

I. The preface presents first, accounts of several dis- 
connected events of the time of the conquest, with a 
second account of the death of Joshua; second, reflec- 
tions upon the history to be narrated in the body of the 
book and a formula according to which the history of 
the period repeats itself. The formula is: The Israel- 
ites fall into sin, are conquered by some neighboring 
tribe, and subjected to grievous oppression; they repent, 
reform, become strong, drive out their enemies and enjoy 
a period of peace and prosperity, only to fall again into 
sin and to repeat the old formula of subjection, oppres- 
sion, repentance, reformation, victory, and temporary 
prosperity. 

II. The body of the book gives accounts varying in 
length, of seven oppressions by foreign conquerors, and 
one usurpation by an ambitious Ephraimite. These 
stories are vigorous and vivid and the actors in the 
rough and daring deeds recorded are living, breathing 
men and women who win our admiration and sympathy. 

1. Israel is conquered by Chushan-Eishathaim, king of 
Mesopotamia, remains in subjection eight years, is de- 
livered by Othniel, and enjoys peace for a period of 
forty years. (Chapt. Ill : 7-11.) 

2. Israel is made subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for 



METHOD OF MASTERY 27 

eighteen years, is freed by the strategy of Ehud, and has 
peace for eighty years. (Chapt. Ill : 12-30.) 

3. Shamgar delivers the Israelites from the oppression 
of the Philistines by slaying 600 of them with an ox- 
goad. (111:31.) 

4. Jabin, king of Canaan, rules Israel for twenty years. 
Then his army under Sisera is defeated by Deborah and 
Barak at the battle of Mount Tabor, and the land has 
rest for forty years. ( I V-V. ) 

5. The Midianites rule Israel for seven years with such 
severity that the condition of the people is unbearable. 
Gideon, a cautious but most valiant man, conducts a 
vigorous campaign against the invaders and the land 
has rest for forty years. 

6. Abimelech, the son of Gideon, by the help of the 
men of his own family usurps the government, kills his 
brothers and has a troubled reign of three years. 

7. The Philistines and Ammonites oppress Israel for 
eighteen years. Israel is relieved by Jephthah's success- 
ful campaign against the Ammonites and enjoys rest for 
thirty-one years. 

8. Again the sins of the Israelites deliver them into 
the hands of the Philistines for forty years. Samson 
is sent as a judge to the oppressed people, and his ec- 
centric career through twenty years opens the way for 
the more serious and successful rule of the judge and 
priest Samuel. 

III. The appendix (XVII-XXI), consists of two 
stories of Israelitish life showing the lawless and unset- 
tled condition of things in the days of the judges. The 
first story tells of Micah and his Levite priest and the 
emigration to the north of a band of the Danites. The 
second story is an account of an outrage committed by 
the Gibeathites in revenge for which the tribe of Ben- 
jamin is almost annihilated by the other tribes of Israel. 

Analysis of the Book of Amos 

This book is placed third in the regular list of the 
Minor Prophets, but in point of time it should be first. 
It is the first of the written prophecies of the Bible and 



28 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

in it Amos originated a new school of prophecy. The 
book has unity and follows a well defined plan. 

The personality of the prophet and the circumstances 
under which he uttered these prophecies are important 
in interpreting the book. Amos says of himself: "I 
was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I 
was a herdman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit : And 
the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord 
said unto me, Go prophesy unto my people Israel." 
Although he disclaims connection with the professional 
prophets and was a man of very humble rank, he had 
keenness of insight, breadth of mind, and wide knowl- 
edge of the world. He had command of a logic, a power 
of speech, and an eloquence that compelled unwilling 
auditors to attend to his message. 

The work of Amos was done about the middle of the 
eighth century b. c, in the midst of the great military 
successes and prosperity of Jeroboam II. But prosperity 
brought great moral evils in its train. The rich lived in 
luxury and vice. Their wealth was obtained through 
violence and robbery. The poor and needy were sold as 
slaves, and honesty in business was unknown. Justice 
was impossible for the poor because the judges were 
notoriously corrupt. The nation regarded its general 
prosperity as a mark of Jehovah's favor and of his ap- 
proval of their corrupt lives and evil practices. It was 
in the midst of these conditions that Amos came from 
his home at Tekoa in Judea, appeared at the sanctuary 
in Bethel, and in burning words and striking imagery 
proclaimed to the wondering people that justice between 
man and man and between nation and nation is one of 
the divine foundations of society and that the people 
of Israel were doomed because justice was not to be found 
among them. There are four natural divisions of the 
Book of Amos : 

I. Indictment of Heathen Nations (I and II). 

Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and 
Judah, are all guilty of sins against common humanity. 
Their punishment is sure. Israel, too, shall be punished 
because she has broken a holier law. In these chapters 



METHOD OF MASTERY 29 

Amos declares that Jehovah has authority over all na- 
tions. 

II. Arraignment and Doom of Israel (III to VI). 
This division consists of three discourses each intro- 
duced by the emphatic words, "Hear ye this word." 

1. (Ill) The fact that Jehovah has chosen the nation 
is no guarantee of its safety. Every effect has its ade- 
quate cause. The causes now exist and destructive jus- 
tice shall soon come upon Israel. 

2. (IV) There is frivolity and formalism ; former chas- 
tisements have proved ineffectual. Israel is therefore 
warned to prepare for judgment. 

3. (V-VI) A lamentation for the doom of Israel 
which is now imminent. The "Day of Jehovah" will 
not be as the people in their infatuation think, an inter- 
position in their favor. It will be " as if a man did flee 
from a lion and a bear met him ; or went into the house, 
and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him." 

III. Five Visions of Judgment and an Historical In- 

terlude (VII to IX) : 
These visions are arranged in the form of a climax. 

1. (VII: 1-3) God sends locusts to devour the vege- 
tation but they disappear at the prayer of the prophet. 

2. (VII: 4-6) God sends fire to devour the great deep 
and the land, but this is quenched at the request of the 
prophet. 

3. (VII: 7-9) The Lord by the plumbline shows 
that the time for mercy is past and declares that the 
sword shall now be drawn against the house of Jeroboam. 

There is here a brief historical interlude (VII : 10-17) . 
The plainness and effectiveness of the third vision 
aroused the opposition of Amaziah, the priest of the 
sanctuary at Bethel, and he commanded Amos to flee to 
the land of Judah. 

4. (VIII) Through the symbolism of a basket of sum- 
mer fruit, Jehovah pronounces a fresh and more detailed 
denunciation and judgment of doom. 

5. (IX: 1-8) This fifth vision pictures the desolation 
falling upon the people as they are assembled for wor- 



30 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

ship in their own temple, and the futility of any attempt 

to escape the decreed doom. 

IV. The Messianic Kingdom (IX: 8-15). 

The closing verses of the book give brighter hopes 
for the future. It is declared that Israel shall be dealt 
with as any other nation for its sins ; but that only the 
sinners shall perish utterly. "I will raise up the ruins 
of the tabernacle of David, and will build it as in the 
days of old." 

The prophecies of Amos were epoch-making. "He 
first wrote for posterity the outlines of an ethical theory 
of the world." "Amos is one of the most marvelous 
and incomprehensible figures in the history of the human 
mind, the pioneer of a process of evolution from which 
a new epoch of humanity dates. . . . Through Amos the 
God of Israel, as the God of justice and righteousness, 
becomes the God of the whole world, and the religion of 
this God, a universal religion. ? ' 

Stories op the Two Prophets 

ELIJAH THE PROPHET OF VENGEANCE 

The setting of the story: Northern Israel; corrupting 
foreign alliances; baleful influence of Phoenicia; the in- 
crease of luxury; the worship of Baal. 

The characters: Ahab, king of Israel; Jezebel, his 
wife, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; Elijah, 
the Tishbite from Gilead; Obadiah, the faithful cham- 
berlain. 

Thrilling and dramatic scenes in the life of Elijah: 

1. The drought (I Kings, XVII) : Elijah's unheralded 
appearance ; the startling prophecy. Elijah seeks hiding 
at Cherith; is sent to Zarephath. The unfailing barrel 
of meal and erase of oil. The widow's son. 

2. The test of fire (XVIII) : Elijah meets Obadiah, 
and reproves Ahab. Demands a chance to expose the 
priests of Baal. The test at Carmel. Baal's prophets 
slain. The small cloud and the great rain. 

3. Flight before Jezebel (XIX): Jezebel's bloody 
threat. Elijah's precipitate flight. Under the juniper 



METHOD OP MASTERY 31 

tree. The scene at the cave on Mt. Horeb. The three 
commands. The choosing of Elisha. 

4. Rebuking the tyrant (XXI) : Naboth's vineyard. 
The coveting king. Naboth's firm refusal. Ahab pouts 
and Jezebel plots. Naboth sacrificed to whim of Ahab. 
The prophet's rebuke and the king's remorse. Fate of 
the messengers from the murderous Ahaziah. 

5. A strenuous career ended (II Kings, II) : Elijah 
seeks solitude. The bold persistence of Elisha. Covert 
sneers of the prophets. But Elisha bears the test. The 
chariot of fire. The mantle of Elijah. 

ELISHA THE PROPHET OF COMMON LIFE 

Each age needs a prophet to fit its conditions. The 
passion, the intensity, fierceness and volcanic energy of 
Elijah were needed in the strenuous days of Ahab and 
Jezebel. But after the fire and the earthquake should 
come the still, small voice; after fierce denunciation, 
words of winning sympathy. Elisha was not a prophet 
of the desert but one who lived among the people and 
inspired affection wherever he went. The world needs 
once in a while a man strong enough to excite terror, 
and then one through whom goodness and sweetness 
may work their charm. Elisha was a prophet whose 
deeds were gracious and soothing, who showed deep sym- 
pathy with the small wants and misfortunes of daily life. 

The cycle of Elisha 's deeds (I Kings, XIX: 19-21; II 
Kings, II-VIII : 15 ; XIII : 14-21 ) : 

1. The call to the prophetic office. 

2. The mantle of Elijah. 

3. The healing of the waters. 

4. The mocking children. 

5. The water trenches in Moab. 

6. The widow's magic pot of oil saves her sons from 
bondage. 

7. The hospitable Shunammite woman's son restored 
to life. 

8. Death in the pot. 

9. The miraculous feeding of the hundred men. 

10. The healing of Naaman and the punishment of 
Gehazi. 



32 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

11. The ax-head that swam. 

12. Elisha reveals the secret councils of the Syrian 
king. The expedition to arrest him. 

13. The siege of Samaria, Elisha 's prophecy and its 
fulfillment. 

14. The Shunammite woman's estate. 

15. Hazael bears a message from Benhadad and is re- 
vealed to himself by Elisha. 

16. Elisha 's sickness, King Joash's visit, and the test 
of the king's determination. The death of Elisha. The 
man restored to life. 



CULTURE VALUE OP THE BIBLE 



CHAPTEE II 

EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 

The purpose of the best education was well expressed 
by the Master Teacher when he explained the object of 
his coming into the world : ' ' I came that ye might have 
life and that ye might have it more abundantly. ' ' This 
means, of course, the complete life, the life of action and 
of the spirit. This great book furnishes materials for 
the preparation of men and women for complete living. 
It has great educational value because : 

1. It emphasizes the value of human life. 

2. It deals with practical problems of life. 

3. It is rich in the materials that nourish the life of 

the spirit. 

4. It provides for the cultivation of man's aesthetic 

nature. 

5. It presents the highest ideals of life, individual 

and national. 

1. It is sad to read of the low value set on human life 
in ancient pagan times. During the reign of a single 
Roman emperor, for example, ten thousand men were 
slain in the Coliseum to amuse the populace. Life was 
so miserable that suicide became popular. Read the list 
of the great men who killed themselves. If the general 
lost a battle, he fell on his own sword. The citizen car- 
ried a dagger with which he might make his quietus if 
the market went against him. Slaves were beaten, 
maimed, put to death at the pleasure of the master. But 
when the Bible came and taught that even a slave bore 
two worlds in his heart, life was reckoned more valuable. 
It was Christianity, the flower and fruit of this old Book, 
that set this proper value on the life of man. Under 

35 



36 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

its influence this valuation took the sweep of the eter- 
nities. 

2. This book deals also with the practical problems 
of the world. There are people who think that because it 
deals with religion it must of necessity have nothing to 
do with the common affairs of life. But it does in fact 
deal with all sorts of every-day activities. It is really a 
guide in all human interests, both sacred and secular: 
it is a book for this world as well as for the world to 
come. It teaches that religion is practical ; that conduct 
is its basis. Many of the religions of the world divorce 
religion and conduct. What a man believes in a reli- 
gious way has little to do with how he behaves himself. 
But the great central truth of the Old Testament is 
righteousness, right conduct, and this is peculiarly the 
master truth of the New Testament. Here it goes even 
farther and insists that we shall attend to the motives 
and feelings whence conduct proceeds. 

In accordance with the best precepts and practices of 
education, this book gives concrete examples, rich, nu- 
merous, and varied, to show what is meant by practical 
righteousness. It is not true that these examples are so 
ancient as to be obsolete. "We get wrong notions of the 
lives of men who lived in ancient Bible times, if we think 
that they felt they were men apart, peculiar men ; if we 
look upon Moses, Abraham, and Elijah, as if they knew 
they were living in an age that would be strange and 
peculiar to us of the twentieth century. An old profes- 
sor of history once said to his students, "Young gentle- 
men, you must remember that the ancients did not 
know they were the ancients. " So this great handbook 
of life sets forth the deeds and aspirations of a multi- 
tude of wonderful men and women who looked upon life 
in just as practical a way as we do to-day, men and 
women whose names are on the great bead-rolls of fame, 
and whose days are crowded and crowned with prac- 
tical activities. 

3. It is rich in materials that nourish the life of the 
spirit. It is a truth of vast importance that the strug- 
gles, the defeats and victories, the despair and exaltation, 



EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 37 

the worship, the love, the devoted service of the men of 
many generations, have given to mankind a wealth of 
spiritual force, and have fashioned out of it a world of 
idea and emotion into which we are born just as truly 
as we are born into the natural physical world. One 
great object of education should be to bring the child 
into contact with this spiritual force, to bring him into 
his race inheritance of idea, emotion, hope, and aspira- 
tion ; not to have him put on the past as a garment, but 
by this contact to have old ideas, emotions, and aspira- 
tions reborn in his mind and soul. Thus learning is liv- 
ing. It is coming in contact with the larger life of hu- 
manity. There ought to be in the school courses material 
that has in it the ennobling record of the world's spir- 
itual achievements, material which is warm with the 
thought and life and feeling of humanity. It is only 
by contact of spirit with spirit that there can be growth 
and development. And when we are selecting material 
for the development of character in girls and boys, let 
us choose that which is saturated with spiritual energy, 
energy from the choicest, the strongest, the richest souls 
of all ages. 

The great secular books of the world are depositories 
of this spiritual energy; they offer material that makes 
for strength and nobility; so that we may say of the 
great authors of these books : they are 

"The immortal dead who live again 
In minds made better by their presence." 

But the richest depository of this spiritual force is the 
Bible, a book which enables the student to walk and talk 
with those choice spirits of the human race that were 
permitted to climb to the very mountain-tops of truth 
where God's sunlight is not obstructed or dimmed by the 
mists and shadows of the earth-valleys, to come in con- 
tact with the great men, the poets, the priests, the phi- 
losophers, the prophets, the law-givers, who have on- 
joyed the open vision. 

4. This great text-book recognizes the fact that beauty 
and joy have their place in life and so provides for the 
cultivation of man's aesthetic nature. Man is made ca- 



38 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

pable of enjoyment. Although his experiences in the 
world teach him that life is a very serious matter, he 
learns, also, that joy and gladness are his by right. Why 
should he be placed in such a beautiful world if it is not 
intended that his mind and heart shall respond to this 
beauty? And just as God has made a beautiful world 
for us to live in, he has made a beautiful book to tell 
us his truth ; it comes to us clothed in the most beautiful 
forms of the world's literature. It tells us not only of 
the truths of religion, but of the beauty and joy of the 
world. It is full of marvelous incidents and engaging 
history, with sunny pictures of old-world scenery, and 
charming and pathetic anecdotes of patriarchal times. 
It is a book of lofty thoughts, clothed in glowing rhetoric 
and striking imagery. All the realms of nature, the 
majestic, the sublime, the peaceful, and the beautiful are 
drawn upon to express its great truths in images of vivid- 
ness, power, and beauty. As one reads its pages he can 
not resist the appeal of these images of sublimity, maj- 
esty, mystery, joy, and gentleness. What more majes- 
tic appeal to the imagination, both in thought and 
phrase, than is found in the opening paragraph of 
Genesis ! 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And 
the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon 
the face of the deep : and the spirit of God moved upon the face 
of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was 
light. And God saw the light that it was good: and God di- 
vided the light from the darkness. And God called the light 
Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and 
the morning were the first day. 

Or how could one be better carried on the wings of the 
imagination than to follow the flight of the poet in the 
135th Psalm! 

Whither shall I go from thy spirit 

Or Whither shall I flee from thy presence? 

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. 

If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. 

If I take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost 

parts of the sea, 
Even there shall thy hand lead me 
And thy right hand uphold me. 



EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 39 

Or what is more satisfying to one who would meditate 
upon the matchless power of the Euler of the world than 
the lines of the 107th Psalm? 

They that go down to the sea in ships, 

That do business in great waters; 

These see the works of the Lord, 

And his wonders in the deep. 

For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, 

Which lifteth up the waves thereof. 

They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; 

Their soul melteth away because of trouble. 

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, 

And are at their wits' end. 

Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, 

And he bringeth them out of their distresses. 

He maketh the storm a calm, 

So that the waves thereof are still. 

Then are they glad because they are quiet; 

So he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be. 

What can better " tease us out of thought" than to 
read the sublime words of the Voice out of the Whirl- 
wind as it overwhelms Job with puzzling queries con- 
cerning the unsolved mysteries of the universe ? 

Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? 

Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? 

Where is the way to the dwelling of light? 

And as for darkness, where is the place thereof? . . . 

By what way is the light parted, 

Or the east wind scattered upon the earth? . . . 

Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades 

Or loose the bands of Orion? . . . 

Canst thou send forth lightnings that they may go, 

And say unto thee, Here we are? 

How beautiful are the words of Moses in the blessing 
pronounced upon Joseph ! 

Blessed of the Lord be his land; 

For the precious things of heaven, for the dew, 

And for the deep that coucheth beneath, 

And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, 

And for the precious things of the growth of the moons, 

And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, 

And for the precious things of the everlasting hills, 

And for the precious things of the earth and the fullness thereof. 



40 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

How vivid, striking, and beautiful are the pictures of 
nature used to set forth the attributes of the great Je- 
hovah, gentle and magnificent ! 

The hills are girded with joy. . . . 

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place 

In all generations. 

Before the mountains were brought forth, 

Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 

Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. . . . 

The strength of the hills is his also . . . 

The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord . . . 

Let the floods clap their hands; 

Let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord . . . 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, 

From whence cometh my help. . . . 

Who hath weighed the mountains in scales, 

And the hills in a balance? . . . 

The mountains and the hills shall burst forth before you into 

singing; 
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. . . . 
He stood and measured the earth; 
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations: 
And the eternal mountains were scattered, 
The everlasting hills did bow, . . . 
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, 
So Jehovah is round about his people, 
From this time forth and forever more. . . . 
God is our refuge and strength, 
A very present help in trouble. 

Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change, 
And though the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas; 
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, 
Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. . . . 
Thy righteousness is like the great mountains. . . . 
The mountains shall bring peace to the people. 

5. It presents the highest ideals of life, national and 
individual. The things that we pride ourselves on to-day 
are our schools, the humaneness of our laws, freedom of 
speech, our active charity organizations, and the protec- 
tion of the poor against the encroachments of the rich. 
But these things are not new in the world. This old 
book tells of a compulsory school law: it required com- 
pulsory education after a fashion — every father was ex- 
pected to educate his own children. There was freedom 
of speech, too, in those ancient days. The prophets and 
religious teachers were specially protected from penalties 



EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 41 

for free speech. They suffered in two cases only : when 
they preached treason, and when they were guilty of 
fraud. 

The laws of that ancient nation were humane. Rob- 
ert G. Ingersoll declared that the statutes of Moses were 
inhumanly cruel, because, as he said, hundreds of crimes 
were punishable by death. Now, the fact is that only 
about a dozen crimes were punishable by death according 
to the Mosaic code, and its spirit is humane indeed com- 
pared with the laws of England in the time of Henry 
VIII, when more than two hundred offenses were punish- 
able by death. / 

We boast that these are the days of great charitable 
enterprises and benevolent institutions. Such societies 
are multiplied indeed and many distressed people receive 
assistance in the time of their need. But giving which is 
impersonal lacks the most essential elements of benevo- 
lence ; it fails to call forth gratitude and encourages im- 
providence. These old Hebrews did not need any such 
machinery to deal with their problems of benevolence; 
they dealt in practical home charity. This was their 
rule: 

If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren 
within any of the gates in thy land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee, thou shalt not shut thy hand from thy poor brother. 
But thou shalt open thy hand wide unto him and shall surely 
lend him sufficient for his need in which he wanteth. 

Indeed this book presents a wonderfully perfect ideal 
government, a commonwealth founded upon a sort of 
general suffrage, recognizing popular rights, providing 
for the protection of these rights, guarding the subjects 
from despotic actions of their king, requiring public 
education, insisting upon freedom of speech, providing 
for charity, and enacting merciful laws. When we con- 
sider the character and spirit of the government as set 
forth in this old book we long for the time when these 
ideals shall gain general acceptance and when all the 
people shall say: 

Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord; and he 

will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out 
of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from 



42 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall 
rebuke many peoples: and they shall beat their swords into 
plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall 
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more. 

The Hebrew conception of God may challenge com- 
parison with that of any other nation whatsoever. To 
the Hebrews Jehovah was great enough to know all things 
and compassionate enough to stoop to the sorrows of the 
humble poor: 

He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. 

He healeth the broken in heart, 

He bindeth up their wounds. 

He counteth the number of the stars; 

He giveth them all their names. 

He is all-powerful, too : 

Great is our Lord and mighty in power. 

There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the 
Lord. 

Thou hast made the heaven and the earth and by thy great 
power and by thy stretched-out arm: there is nothing too hard 
for thee. 

He is everywhere present and infinite in understanding : 

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? 
saith the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. 
Thou understandest my thought afar off. 
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and 

the good. 
His understanding is infinite. 

He has also the gentler, the more compassionate attri- 
butes : He is just and holy, merciful and full of loving 
kindness : 

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. 

The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his 

works. . . . 
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? . . . 
Thy loving kindness is better than life. . . . 
Oh, how great is thy goodness. 

His pity and care have the tenderness of a mother and 
the protecting power of omnipotence: 



EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 43 

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, 
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trou- 
ble. . . . 
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them 
that fear him. 
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; 
and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee; when thou 
walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned; neither shall 
the flame kindle upon thee. 

The biblical conception of God being understood, it is 
easier to understand the Hebrew ideal of manhood. The 
ideals for the individual are lofty and noble. First, he 
is made in the image of God and made the master of the 
world. No mythologies give man such a noble origin and 
destiny. There are presented, also, examples of magnifi- 
cent, heroic courage. What a line of heroes might be 
named ! 

What shall I say more, for time would fail me to tell of men 
who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob- 
tained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the vio- 
lence of fires, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were 
made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies 
of the aliens. 

What other book presents such an ennobling, inspiring 
ideal of the future life, the hope of divine-like immor- 
tality ? The Greek conception of the life to come was of 
a world of darkness and gloom, with nothing to do, every- 
thing to suffer. What a comforting contrast is the ideal 
of the future life as presented in this great book: 

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven 
and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. 
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of 
heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her hus- 
band. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, 
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell 
with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall 
be with them, and be their God: And he shall wipe away every 
tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall 
there be mourning, nor crying nor pain any more. . . . And 
there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, 
neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them li^ht: 
and they shall reign forever and ever. 



CHAPTER III 

LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 

No one can claim to be well educated who is not fairly 
familiar with the history and literature found in the 
Bible. The English Bible has so shaped the ideas and 
ideals of the English-speaking people, has been so woven 
into all their literature that it has become the one su- 
preme book in the English tongue. There is operative in 
the world a law which may be called the conservation of 
spiritual energy. The best vehicles for the transmission 
of this energy are the great books of the world. They 
transmit to the people of each succeeding generation this 
spiritual energy as a most important part of their race 
inheritance. The book with the greatest carrying power 
and the richest gifts is the Bible. Its original measure of 
inspired power has been enlarged by the absorption into 
its pages of the faith and trust of multitudes of devoted 
readers through the ages ; and as it has passed down the 
centuries it has poured into the world, in days of dark- 
ness and doubt, a flood of the cleansing sunshine of right- 
eousness. The life and culture of our time, or of any 
time, can not be complete without the transforming touch 
of this spiritual energy. For this reason and many 
others, it is abundantly worth while to study the Bible 
with thoroughness and seriousness. In this chapter 
seven reasons are given why it should be studied by 
literary methods and for its literary value. 

1. The charge that it is sacrilegious to study the Bible 
as literature can not be sustained; such study may be 
wise and reverent. 

2. A close and critical study will make its message 
clearer. 

3. Such study will be profitable because the Bible is a 
great storehouse of good English which has been more 

44 



LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 45 

powerful in shaping our language, both spoken and writ- 
ten, than any other influence whatsoever. 

4. The specific study of its language, characters, and 
stories is profitable because in our everyday speech, and 
secular literature there are multitudes of verbal forms 
and illustrations drawn from the Bible, whose full mean- 
ing and force are understood only by those who are fa- 
miliar with the original sources. 

5. It furnishes interesting reading and has a rich and 
satisfying variety. 

6. It is profitable to study the Bible because in it are 
found the best examples of great literature, in diction, 
form, and feeling. 

7. Its study is worth while because it is a literature 
of power. It has shaped the thought and morals of the 
best nations of the world. 

1. George Eliot makes Adam Bede say: "I prefer to 
read the Apocrypha rather than the Bible for in reading 
the Apocrypha I can use my own reason.'' But it is 
not really sacrilegious to apply to the Bible the same 
standards of excellence and the same canons of good 
taste that are applied as a matter of course to any other 
book. A man who affected to despise learning one time 
said, "I love flowers but I hate botany." Suppose a bot- 
anist, a rare reader of God in nature, goes forth into the 
fields in search of flowers. He finds a beautiful flower 
and at once proceeds to pick it to pieces. "Alas, you ir- 
reverent man!" you cry, "you are destroying one of 
God's beautiful works. What right have you to tear 
apart those petals that make a thing of such exquisite 
loveliness ? ' 9 But the botanist is not animated by a spirit 
of ruthless destruction ; he is filled with a spirit of loving 
appreciation. He knows that the only way to under- 
stand the flower completely is to pick it to pieces; that 
only in this way can he comprehend the wonderful or- 
ganism, the splendid beauty, the real significance of the 
flower. And just as botany conduces to a greater love 
for flowers, so should a close, careful, critical study of 
the Bible lead us to a greater and more reverent love 
for the truth that it teaches. Of course it should be 
remembered that while we study its literary forms very 



46 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

much as we study other books, we should not for a mo- 
ment forget that the truly wonderful thing about this 
sacred literature is the divine spirit which animates it, 
the everlasting purpose which lies back of it all. But 
while this is true, we should not fall into the error of 
believing that it is sacrilegious to study it in a careful, 
critical way. It has for us "apples of gold in baskets of 
silver," and it is not sacrilegious to examine the baskets 
of silver. 

2. A study of the Bible as literature will aid in under- 
standing its message. Language does not give forth its 
message with unvarying exactness. It is never easy to 
Imow just how much meaning or how little a writer in- 
tends to convey by a word or a phrase. One must have 
abundant knowledge of the way in which men have 
thought and spoken, a large experience in interpreting 
the thoughts and feelings of men from their words, to 
be at all sure that he is getting what an author intended 
he should get. In secular literature no one is bold 
enough to set himself up as an interpreter of master- 
pieces unless he brings to the interpretation a mind 
trained to understand and appreciate the force of words 
and literary forms, and a method of study and interpre- 
tation which has stood the test of years of application. 

Of course there are things about this great Book that 
are so simple that even a child can understand and ap- 
preciate them ; but there are things profound enough to 
puzzle the philosopher, and these the reader can not hope 
to understand unless he has prepared himself for the 
task of weighing and considering. The man of little ex- 
perience in interpreting men's thoughts and feelings 
from their written words must fail to get at the heart 
of many a passage. He should be able to read between 
the lines, to discern where he ought to rest his full 
weight and press out the fullest meaning, and where he 
ought to press lightly. The man of no range in his 
reading, with no experience in interpretation, must be 
inclined inevitably to treat all parts alike, to make one 
word just as emphatic, just as literal as another. 

The truths of the Bible are offered to us in the same 
words, phrases, and literary forms, that are used in all 



LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 47 

other literature; it ought to require no argument to 
prove that if the student is to get all that is bound up 
in these words, phrases, and forms, he should make 
diligent use of all his secular knowledge, of all his cul- 
ture, of all his best methods of getting at the meaning 
and force of language, and of all his trained powers of 
interpreting literature. 

3. The literary study of the Bible will be profitable 
because it is a great storehouse of good English which 
has been more powerful in shaping our language, both 
spoken and written, than any other influence whatso- 
ever. 

Dr. Cook of Tale says : 

"From Caedmon's time to the present the influence 
of Bible diction upon English speech has been virtually 
uninterrupted. The Bible has been an active force in 
English literature for over 1200 years, and during the 
whole period it has been molding the diction of repre- 
sentative thinkers and literary artists. ' ' 

Mr. Saintsbury in his history of English literature 
says: 

"But great as are Bacon and Raleigh, they can not 
approach, as writers of prose, the company of scholarly 
divines who produced what is probably the greatest 
prose work in any language — the Authorized Version of 
the Bible in English.' ' 

It has often been said that "The Pilgrim's Progress" 
of Bunyan stands unrivaled as a model of plain, vigorous 
clear, pleasing English. The reason for this excellence 
is evident. Bunyan was fairly saturated not only with 
the spirit but with the language of the English Bible. 
Coleridge declared that intense study of the Bible will 
keep any writer from being vulgar in point of style. 
And John Ruskin, who was doubtless the greatest master 
of pure, idiomatic, vigorous, and eloquent English prose 
that the last century produced, says that his mother re- 
quired him in childhood to commit to memory and re- 
peat to her over and over again, many passages of the 
Bible. We need not seek further for the secret of his 
admirable diction and perfect command of English 
phraseology. 



48 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

4. "It is woven into the literature of the scholar and 
colors the talk of the street." A familiar acquaintance 
with the words, phrases, stories, and characters of the 
Bible is valuable because our everyday speech and our 
secular literature have been enriched by the use of and 
by allusions to them. There are in our secular litera- 
ture multitudes of allusions to the Bible. Again and 
again does a writer take advantage of the associations 
which cluster about a Bible phrase or incident and by a 
simple touch bring up in the mind of the understanding 
reader all the circumstances and sentiments connected 
with the original. Indeed no one who lays claim to any 
degree of culture can be ignorant of these incidents, 
phrases, and characters. They have been assimilated 
into the common speech. The most illiterate man under- 
stands, after a fashion, the phrases : ' l the widow 's mite, * ' 
"a Judas kiss," "the flesh-pots of Egypt," "a still 
small voice, " " a Jehu, " " a perfect babel, " " a Nimrod, ' ? 
" bread upon the waters," "a Daniel come to judg- 
ment," "a Solomon," "a Delilah," "a mother in 
Israel," "a land flowing with milk and honey," "the 
valley of decision," and "the salt of the earth." These 
have become the permanent possession of our every-day 
speech and convey a meaning not associated directly 
with their origin; but to those who are familiar with 
the origin and setting of these terms, they have a vigor 
and significance which others can not at all appreciate. 

All our poets have enriched their pages with thoughts 
and images from this wonderful literary storehouse. 
If one wishes to know how frequently Tennyson drew 
out of this inexhaustible mine treasures both new and 
old, let him examine the appendix to Dr. Henry Van 
Dyke's study of Tennyson; he will find listed there 
more than two hundred references. Among these are 
the phrases: "as manna in my wilderness"; "Pharaoh's 
darkness"; "Ruth amid the fields of corn"; "stiff as 
Lot's wife"; "I have flung thee pearls and find thee 
swine"; "and marked me even as Cain"; "the church 
on Peter's rock"; "a whole Peter's sheet"; "one was 
the Tishbite whom the ravens fed"; "who can call him 
friend that dips in the same dish." 



LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 49 

From Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes are selected the fol- 
lowing allusions, a few from many that might be quoted : 
"We too who laugh at Israel's golden calf"; "a cloud 
by day, by night a pillared flame"; "He who prayed 
the prayer of all mankind"; "Why did the choir of 
angels sing for joy"? "I thought of Judas and his 
bribe"; "They who gathered manna every morn"; 

"Mountains are cleft before you 

As the sea before the tribes of Israel's wandering sons" 

"When Moab's daughter homeless and forlorn, 
Found Boaz slumbering by his heaps of corn." 

The space of many chapters would be required to set 
forth Shakespeare's indebtedness to the Bible. The 
following are some of the most familiar allusions : 

"Good name in man or woman, dear my lord, 
Is the immediate jewel of their soul." 

"Samson, master, was a man of good carriage, great carriage; 
for he carried the town gates on his back like a porter." 

"You found his mote; the king your mote did see; 
But I a beam do find in each of thee." 

"I am no great Nebuchadnezzar, sir. I have not much skill 
in grass." 

"It is hard to come as for a camel 
To thread the postern of a needle's eye." 

By the use of these allusions the poet may not only 
give completeness to his thought, force to his truth, and 
vividness to his imagery, but he may enrich his verse 
with a beauty and significance beyond his own power. 
He may write, "A little lower than angels" — and at 
once we hear added to the music of his lines, 

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? 
And the son of man that thou visitcst him? 
For thou hast made him a little lower than angels, 
And crowned him with glory and honor. ,, 

Or the poet writes the phrase, "Solomon-shaming flow- 
ers, ' ' and we at once hear the matchless lines : 



50 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; 
They toil not, neither do they spin: 
Yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory 
Was not arrayed like one of these." 

5. There are many people who do not look upon the 
Bible as a readable book; yet its pages are full of un- 
usual charm. It is a book full of marvelous incidents 
and engaging history, with sunny pictures of old world 
scenery, and charming and pathetic anecdotes of patri- 
archal times. Any one who wishes literature having 
unity, variety, beauty, strength, and interest, can find 
it in this volume of sixty-six books,. He will there find 
law, folk-lore, tradition, official records, historical nar- 
rative, epic poetry, dramatic poetry, lyric poetry, prover- 
bial philosophy, patriotic addresses, religious addresses, 
parables, prayers, prophecies, biographies, theology, 
circular letters, private letters, riddles, fables, dream 
literature, love songs, patriotic songs, and songs of 
praise. These writings were produced by probably 
thirty-one writers through a period of fifteen hundred 
years. Some of them lived in palaces and some in pris- 
ons; some were princes and some were peasants; some 
were scholars and some were illiterate men; some were 
philosophers and some herdsmen, fishermen, and me- 
chanics. So it is a book appealing to the learned and 
the ignorant, to the prince and the peasant, the sage 
and the child, to all races, all nations, all classes, and it 
approaches all these in the way they can best be reached. 

The place of the origin of the Bible should give it 
variety. It originated in a land which is a sort of epi- 
tome of the world. The configuration of Palestine, its 
immense variety of scenery, its vast range of climate, its 
extraordinary range of animal and vegetable life, re- 
produce, in a way, the features of the whole world. So 
the book is cosmopolitan in its atmosphere and imagery. 
It is full of the imagery of the sea and has in it also the 
quiet serenity of the secluded valley and lonely shore. 
It is filled with pastoral imagery. It tells of a God 
who is a Shepherd, of a king who came from the sheep- 
fold. It is warm with the breath and brilliant with the 
light of the eastern clime: It tells of gardens and 



LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 51 

spices, of roses and lilies, of gold and jewels, of pome- 
granates and palms: its imagery is oriental in its rich- 
ness. On the other hand it is also a book of mountains 
and snow and ice; its atmosphere is affected by the 
winds from Lebanon and snow-capped Hermon, as well 
as by breezes from the City of Palm Trees. 

6. The forms of literature found in the Bible are 
numerous and varied. Do you want biographies ? Here 
you may find biographies which in directness of narra- 
tive, vigor of movement, interest, and in faithfulness to 
life are superior to any that were ever written — cer- 
tainly more faithful in telling the truth and the whole 
truth. Or do you want to study love stories? Here 
you can find stories of such genuineness, naturalness, 
noble simplicity, and straightforward truthfulness that 
they put to shame the multitude of sickly, silly senti- 
mental novels of to-day. Or do you want to read an- 
nals of war? Here your blood may be stirred with ac- 
counts of battles, sieges, deadly encounters, ignoble 
treachery, noble patriotism, galling defeats, glorious vic- 
tories, and remarkable bravery, records not surpassed 
in the history of any nation. Or do you want to study 
law literature? Here you can find a system of juris- 
prudence to which the best countries of the civilized 
world must acknowledge themselves indebted ; and these 
laws set forth in statutes so simple, so plain, and withal 
so unmistakable in their meaning that you will begin to 
feel pity for our own lawmakers who use vain repeti- 
tions as the heathen do, and write their statutes in lan- 
guage like Samson's riddles. 

Or do you want to study fiction? Here you will find 
the wonderfully effective parables, the instructive fables, 
and the warning dreams, all with a moral lesson so 
forcibly put that you need hardly ask why there should 
be fiction in the Bible, or why the imagination may not 
be inspired as well as the reason and the judgment. 
Or do you want to read poetry? Here you may find 
poems of transcendent genius, some of the noblest poems 
of the world, poems breathing such lofty piety, such 
fervent devotion, such noble sentiments, and all ex- 
pressed in imagery so beautiful and sublime that you 



52 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

can not choose but be entranced by their beauty and 
their power. 

It is profitable to study the Bible because it contains 
the best forms of literature in satisfying perfection. 
The English historian James Anthony Froude wrote : 

' ' The Bible thoroughly known is a literature of itself 
— the rarest and the richest in all departments of thought 
or imagination which exists." 

Dr. Robert South, the great English divine, says: 

1 'In God's word we have not only a body of religion, 
but also a system of the best rhetoric; and as the high- 
est things require the highest expressions, so we shall 
find nothing in Scripture so sublime in itself, but it is 
reached and sometimes overtopped by the sublimity of 
the expression. So that he who said he would not read 
the Scripture for fear of spoiling his style showed him- 
self as much, a blockhead as an atheist, and to have as 
small a gust of the elegancies of expression as the sacred- 
ness of the matter." 

Sir 'William Jones testifies : 

c 'I have carefully and regularly perused these holy 
Scriptures, and am of opinion that the volume independ- 
ent of its divine origin, contains more sublimity, purer 
morality, more important history, and finer strains of 
eloquence, than can be collected from all other books in 
whatever language they may have been written." 

Do you ask for tenderness and devotion expressed in 
faultless rhetoric I 

And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return 
from following after thee, for whither thou goest I will go; and 
where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, 
and thy God my God: where thou diest I will die, and there 
will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught 
but death part thee and me. 

Do you ask for pathos and elegant simplicity? 

And Cnshi said, Tidings, my lord the king; for the Lord hath 
avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. 

And the king said unto Cnshi, Is the young man Absalom safe? 
And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all 
that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. 

And the King was much moved, and went up to the chamber 



LITERAKY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 53 

over the gate, and wept; and as he went, thus he said, O my son 
Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee, 
O Absalom, my son, my son! 

Do you want eloquence of appeal, gentleness of warn- 
ing, depth of yearning, and glorious promise united with 
beauty of poetic form, pleasing imagery, and most pic- 
turesque metaphor ? Hear Isaiah : 

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that 
hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine 
and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye 
spend your money for that which is not bread? and your labor 
for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me and 
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in 
fatness. . . . For ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with 
peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you 
into singing; and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of 
the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the 
Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut 
off. 

Do you want the most practical wisdom set forth in 
sentences of the utmost vigor, terseness, and rhythmic 
beauty ? 

My son, forget not my law; but let thy heart keep my com- 
mandments; 

For length of days and long life and peace shall they add 
unto thee; 

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy 
neck; write them upon the table of thine heart; 

So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight 
of God and man. . . . 

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that get- 
teth understanding; 

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of 
silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 

She is more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst 
desire are not to be compared unto her. 

Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left riches 
and honor. 

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and 
happy is every one that retaineth her. 

7. The study of the literature of the Bible is worth 
while because it is a literature of power; it has shaped 
the thought and morals of the Christian world. 



54 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

De Quineey divided literature into two classes, the 
literature of knowledge and the literature of power. 
The Bible belongs peculiarly to the literature of power. 
We know that it is the most powerful book that ever 
spoke to man. The literature of power is always the 
great literature; it is the only literature that has an 
unending lease of life. The literature of knowledge will 
live only until some one else embodies the old facts in a 
partially new form. Literature of power can never be- 
come obsolete because it deals with things eternally true ; 
and the deeper and truer the message of a book, the 
more inevitable will be the form in which this message 
will state itself. The literature of the Bible is so sur- 
charged with power that virtue goes out of it whenever 
it touches the people. This virtue influences their 
thoughts, forms their governments, frames their laws, 
shapes their morals, molds their characters, and fashions 
their lives. All modern thought, ethics, culture, art, 
law, literature, conduct, and the dull, common round of 
life, find here most of the materials out of which they 
are shaped, and by which they are inspired. Thought 
finds here its problems ; ethics, its standards ; culture, its 
rich materials; art, its most inspiring subjects; law, its 
fundamental ideas ; literature, its spirit and ideals ; con- 
duct, its primary sanctions; and the multitude of com- 
mon relations and activities of life find here those ele- 
ments of mystery, hope, and exaltation which make 
them at all endurable. 

Matthew Arnold, poet and critic, and profound stu- 
dent of the Bible, says : 

"As well imagine a man with a sense for poetry not 
cultivating it by the help of Homer and Shakespeare, as 
a man with a sense for conduct not cultivating it by the 
help of the Bible." 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet, philosopher, and theo- 
logian, says : 

"For more than a thousand years the Bible collectively 
taken has gone hand in hand with civilization, science, 
law, — in short, with the moral and intellectual cultiva- 
tion of the species, always supporting and often leading 
the way." 



LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 55 

Indeed almost an unlimited number of illustrations 
and opinions might be offered in evidence, but let a 
particular and concrete testimonial conclude the list. It 
is an account of the influence of the Bible on a particu- 
lar nation at a particular time. In his " History of the 
English People," John Richard Green says of the time 
when the English Bible so powerfully stirred the life 
and conscience of England: 

1 ' So far as the nation at large was concerned, no history, 
no romance, hardly any poetry save the little-known 
verse of Chaucer, existed in the English tongue when 
the Bible was ordered to be set up in the churches. Sun- 
day after Sunday, day after day, the crowds that gath- 
ered around the Bible in the nave of St. Paul's, or the 
family group that hung on its words in the devotional 
exercises at home, were leavened with a new literature. 
Legend and annal, war song and psalm, state roll and 
biography, the mighty voice of the prophets, the parables 
of evangelists, stories of mission journeys, or perils by 
the sea and among the heathen, philosophic arguments, 
apocalyptic visions, all were flung broadcast over minds 
unoccupied for the most part by any rival learning. 
But far greater than its effect on literature or social 
phrase was the effect of the Bible on the character of 
the people at large. The Bible was as yet the one book 
which was familiar to every Englishman; and every- 
where its words as they fell on ears that custom had not 
deadened to their force and beauty, kindled a startling 
enthusiasm. The effect of the Bible however dispas- 
sionately we examine it, was simply amazing. The whole 
people became a church. The problem of life, and 
death, whose questionings found no answers in the higher 
minds of Shakespeare's day pressed for an answer not 
only from noble and scholar, but from farmer and shop- 
keeper in the age that followed him. ' ' 



THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



CHAPTER IV 

ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

The Bible has a natural as well as a supernatural his- 
tory. It was written as thousands of other books have 
been written, and preserved and transmitted as thou- 
sands of other books have been preserved and trans- 
mitted. The books of the Old Testament were of slow 
growth and gave expression to the developing religious 
consciousness of the Hebrew race. The writing of the 
sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments extended 
through a period of about 1500 years. Among the peo- 
ple of the Hebrew race there appeared again and again 
men of lofty vision, men of inspiration, through whom 
messages of spiritual truth were given to their fellows 
and to the world. These messages were embodied in the 
books of the Bible, and the books grew as the messages 
grew. In writing these books the authors made use of 
materials long since lost to the world. So the Bible as 
we have it to-day represents the remains of a very wide 
literature. There are in the historical books of the Old 
Testament quotations from and references to almost a 
score of other books which are now lost. The titles of 
some of these books are, The Acts of Solomon, The Chron- 
icles of King David, The Book of Nathan the Prophet, 
The Book of Gad the Seer, The Book of Jasher, and The 
Book of the Wars of the Lord. 

Materials and Composition. But present day biblical 
scholars declare that the first six historical books of the 
Old Testament are indebted to older books in a way 
quite different from the indebtedness just mentioned. 
They assert that these historical books as we have them 
to-day are composite, their texture having been formed 
by the skillful interweaving of a number of older his- 
tories. They further assert that they are able to take 

59 



60 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

any one of the six books mentioned and resolve it into its 
original component parts and assign the parts to their 
proper original history. These more ancient books in 
their chronological order are: The Early Judean Pro- 
phetic History, The Northern Prophetic History, The 
Combined Prophetic Histories, The Priestly History, 
and The Combined Priestly and Prophetic Histories. 
This last combination constitutes the books of the Hexa- 
teuch as they are to-day. 

The Early Judean History opens with the primitive 
story of the creation found in Genesis II, gives an ac- 
count of man's fall as found in Genesis III, and pro- 
ceeds with a brief account of the different human insti- 
tutions as they were successively developed. It is said 
that when the extracts from this ancient history, found 
in the Hexateuch, are put together, they make a brief 
connected record of all the important events in Israel's 
many-sided life down to the reign of Solomon. The lit- 
erary style of this reconstructed record is simple, con- 
cise, vivid, picturesque, and dramatic. 

The Northern Prophetic History is a similar connected 
story composed of the national songs and traditions cur- 
rent in Northern Israel. This history when recon- 
structed from the present Hexateuch begins with the life 
of Abraham and gives a record of Israel's life down to 
the time of Saul. It is closely parallel to the Judean 
account, but each has preserved narratives peculiar to 
itself and has many distinguishing characteristics. The 
mount of revelation in the Northern History is Horeb 
instead of Sinai; the people of Palestine are Amorites 
instead of Canaanites; God is called Elohim, not Jeho- 
vah ; and he communicates with man by messengers in- 
stead of by word of mouth. 

When Northern Israel was carried into captivity in 
721 b. c, its literature came into the possession of the 
southern prophets who combined the northern history 
with their own, making a composite narrative. This 
showed some minor inconsistencies but included what 
was valuable in both. Thus was formed The Combined 
Prophetic Histories. 

The Priestly History was written by Judean exiles in 



ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 61 

Babylon. These prophets under the influence of their 
new surroundings in the city of their exile were trans- 
formed into priests with new ideas about religion and a 
strong love for law and ritual. Certain of these priests 
wrote a brief history of their race from this new point 
of view. This history begins with the story of the 
creation as found in the first chapter of Genesis and 
presents the chief incidents in Israel's history up to the 
time of the conquest of Canaan. The style is formal and 
legal and the interest is chiefly in the origin of Israel's 
legal and ceremonial institutions. In this narrative 
the nation's history is so far idealized that Moses, Jacob, 
and other national heroes have no sins or weaknesses 
charged against them. 

Finally, the composite prophetic history and the 
priestly history were combined. This fusion produced 
the first six books of the Old Testament in their present 
form ; and since the writer of the Hexateuch was a priest 
the priestly narrative was given precedence in the fu- 
sion. For example, the order of events in the priestly 
history is adopted in the composite story, and the im- 
portant introduction to Genesis is from the priestly 
narrative. It is indeed such a majestic account of crea- 
tion that it makes a most fitting introduction to the 
whole of the Old Testament. 

The other books of the Old Testament have a simpler 
history than those of the Hexateuch. The Books of 
Samuel were originally a single work, and existed sub- 
stantially in their present form about 700 b. c. The 
Books of Kings were also originally a single book, dating 
from 600 b. c. The Book of Judges was formed during 
the period of the Exile out of the material of earlier nar- 
ratives. Ruth was written about 450 b. c. Chronicles, 
Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther were written about 250 
b. c. 

The collection of the proverbs which make up the Book 
of Proverbs was continued through the years from 900 
to 250 b.c. The poems of the Psalter were composed 
through a period extending from 900 b.c. to the com- 
pletion of the collection, about 150 b.c. The con- 
jectured dates of the other books of poetry are, Lamen- 



62 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

tations, 540; Job, 350; Canticles, 300; and Eeclesiastes, 
250 b. c. 

The Books of the Prophets were composed through a 
period of 600 years. The Book of Amos, the oldest one, 
is assigned to 750, and the Book of Daniel to 160 b. c. 
The other prophetic books were written in the interven- 
ing years in the following order : Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, 
Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Obadiah, 
Ezekiel, II Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel, 
and Jonah. 

Old Manuscript Copies. The oldest copies of the Bi- 
ble are not in printed but in manuscript form. This is 
necessarily the case because printing was not invented 
until the fifteenth century. There are more than three 
thousand manuscripts of the Bible in existence, vari- 
ously dated from 325 a. d., to the thirteenth century. 
They are distributed chiefly among the great libraries 
throughout the civilized world. Not one of them is ab- 
solutely complete, but there are about thirty which 
contain all the books of the Old and New Testaments, 
lacking only a few leaves of being complete. The 
greater part of this large number contain only small por- 
tions of the Scriptures. 

Three of these manuscripts are very important and 
interesting, because they are so very ancient. All of 
them originally contained the entire Greek Bible of the 
Old and New Testaments in the Septuagint version. 
They are called, the Vatican manuscript, the Alexan- 
drian manuscript, and the Sinaitic manuscript. The 
Vatican manuscript was long the most important one 
known. It has been in the Vatican library for about 
five hundred years. It formerly belonged to a Greek 
priest, Bessarion, and is the oldest of all the manu- 
scripts. Many scholars assign it to the year 325 a. d. 
It has been kept with most jealous care and a complete 
copy of it was not given to the world until the year 
1866. In that year Dr. Tischendorf, a German scholar, 
was allowed, after many attempts and repulses, to 
study this jealously guarded book; and in 1867 he pub- 
lished a copy of it in the common Greek type. Thus 
this buried treasure became the property of the world. 



ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 63 

The Alexandrian manuscript was found in Egypt and 
is now kept in the British Museum. It was presented 
to Charles I in 1628 by the Patriarch of Constantinople, 
who brought it from Alexandria in Egypt. The Vati- 
can Bible consists of one huge volume, but this one con- 
sists of four volumes, three of the Old Testament and 
one of the New Testament. The Patriarch of Constanti- 
nople testified that the report concerning it was that it 
had been copied by Thecla, a Christian lady of the no- 
bility, in the fourth century a. d. Nearly all the 
critics agree that this manuscript is as old as the fifth 
century. 

The most interesting of the three manuscripts is the 
Sinaitic. The story of how it was found is a veritable 
romance. It was discovered in 1859 by Dr. Tischen- 
dorf, the German scholar before mentioned, in the con- 
vent of St. Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai. In 
1844 Dr. Tischendorf was traveling in the East in search 
of ancient documents and when he was in the library of 
this convent, his eye fell upon a large basketful of old 
parchments, apparently of no value, and waiting only 
to be used as fire-kindling. When he looked them over, 
he learned, to his great surprise and delight, that they 
were sheets of a most ancient copy of the Septuagint. 
He was allowed to take forty sheets, but when he un- 
warily expressed his delight, he was denied any more. 
As he grew persistent the monks grew stubborn in their 
refusal. It became known in Europe that Dr. Tischen- 
dorf had made an important discovery, and the English 
government sent out experts to search the East for 
lost documents. But the searchers came back empty- 
handed. In 1853 Dr. Tischendorf visited the old con- 
vent again but no traces of the desired manuscript could 
be found. He did not despair, but in 1859 once more 
visited the convent in the desert. His errand seemed in 
vain and he was about to take his leave. However, the 
evening before his departure he was invited into the cell 
of the steward of the monastery to partake of refresh- 
ments. When they were alone the monk said, "I, too, 
sometimes read a copy of the book which you seek"; and 
as he spoke he placed in the hands of the anxious 



64 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

searcher a bulky volume wrapped in red cloth. Im- 
mediately the great scholar knew that his search had 
been rewarded, for therein he found the fragments which 
he had seen in the basket fifteen years before, with 
other parts of the Old Testament and the whole of the 
New Testament. He was careful to restrain his joy 
this time, and was permitted to take the volume to his 
own room, where he declares he literally danced for 
joy, and worked so diligently at copying parts of it 
that he felt it would be wickedness to sleep. After 
much negotiation the manuscript was deposited in the 
library of St. Petersburg and in due time Dr. Tischen- 
dorf, with the aid of assistants, made an edition of it 
in facsimile, and in 1863, through the munificence of 
the Emperor of Russia, copies of it were sent to the 
great libraries throughout Christendom. 

The Canon. The word canon is a Greek word mean- 
ing literally a measuring rod; it means in this connec- 
tion an authoritative list or catalogue of the books which 
the churches receive as given by inspiration and as con- 
stituting for them the divine rule of faith and practice, 
in distinction from apocryphal religious books of un- 
certain authority. It is an interesting study to follow 
out the history of the collection of the books of the 
Bible into the canon as we have it to-day. It is be- 
lieved by the Jews that the thirty-nine books of the Old 
Testament, which they arranged as twenty-two, were 
collected and arranged by Ezra, Nehemiah, and their 
companions after the rebuilding of the Temple, on their 
return from captivity. The Talmud says that the He- 
brew canon was formed gradually by Ezra and Nehe- 
miah, and the Great Synagogue, a council composed of 
120 members, priests, Levites, doctors of the law, and 
other eminent representatives of the people. It is said 
that Nehemiah was its first president and that it met 
at different times in the city of Jerusalem through a 
period of over one hundred years. 

Ancient Versions. The Bible has been translated into 
more than 450 languages and dialects, but there are a 
few ancient versions which are of peculiar value be- 
cause the student must look to them for the authentic 



ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 65 

text with which he compares his modern version in what- 
ever language it may be. The two principal ancient 
versions are the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vul- 
gate. The Greek version, called the Septuagint, is 
worthy of special notice for several reasons. In it 
are the oldest existing copies of the Scriptures or any 
part of them in any language ; the Old Testament in this 
version exerted the largest influence on the language and 
style of the New Testament. It was extensively used in 
the time of Christ, not only in Egypt where it originated, 
and in the Roman provinces generally, but also in Pales- 
tine; it is notable, too, because the quotations from 
the Old Testament found in the New Testament are 
more commonly from this version than from the He- 
brew version ; that is, Jesus and his disciples must have 
made use of this version. 

The Jewish account of the origin of the Septuagint 
is that Ptolemy Philadelphus who reigned in Egypt 
285-247 b. c, requested Eleazer, the high priest of 
Jerusalem, to send him seventy-two chosen men with 
a copy of the Jewish law that it might be translated 
into the Greek language and laid up in the royal li- 
brary at Alexandria. Eleazer accordingly selected six 
elders from each of the twelve tribes to do this work. 
They went to Alexandria, taking with them a copy of 
the law written, it is said, on parchment in letters of 
gold. These chosen men were received by the king with 
high honors, and lodged in a palace on an island sup- 
posed to have been the island of Pharos in the harbor 
of Alexandria, where they completed their work in 
seventy-two days and were sent home with munificent 
gifts. There is a legend that they were shut up in 
separate cells where they had no communication with 
each other, and that the results of their work when com- 
pared were found to be identical, and were hence ac- 
cepted as inspired. However, the marked inequality 
of different parts of the work sufficiently disproves this 
legend and seems to support the belief that the version 
was the product of different times as well as of dif- 
ferent hands. 

The great Latin version known as the Vulgate is of 



66 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

unusual importance to us because it has vitally influ- 
enced the English Bible. The early English versions 
were translations from the Vulgate and much of the 
strength and beauty of its Latin passed into the literary 
style of the translators. The word Vulgate means com- 
mon or current. Toward the close of the fourth cen- 
tury a. d., the various Latin texts of the Bible had be- 
come so much corrupted that revision was imperative. 
The great scholar known as St. Jerome was selected 
by Pope Damasus to perform this important task. He 
revised the New Testament about the year 385, and com- 
pleted the Old Testament in the year 405. St. Jerome's 
translation was not at first accepted by the Church ; but 
it gradually made its way into favor and about two 
hundred years after his death, became the universally 
received version of the Church. In 1546 it was de- 
clared to be the authorized version of the Roman church 
and has remained so to the present day. 

English Versions. The Bible was not translated into 
the English tongue all at once. It grew slowly follow- 
ing closely the course alike of religious and intellectual 
life in England. Its story begins with Caedmon of 
Whitby on the northeastern coast of England, in the 
year 670. Here the English Bible and English poetry 
both took their rise. Caedmon in his rude rime sang 
the song of Genesis and Exodus, and the story of the 
Gospel. The next translating was done by the Venera- 
ble Bede, the father of English learning. At the Mon- 
astery of Jarrow he translated different parts of the 
Bible, the last work he did being a translation of the 
Gospel of St. John. King Alfred the Great was the 
third translator. While battling with the Danes and 
giving laws to his people, he found time to translate 
many books. He translated the Ten Commandments, 
the Lord's Prayer, the 20th, 21st, and 22nd chapters of 
Exodus, and several of the Psalms. When he died he 
was engaged in completing the translation of the Psalms. 

Wycliffe's Bible, published in 1383, is the first great 
monument of English literature. This translation has 
influenced every succeeding English translation of the 
Bible to the present day. In 1525 the mantle of Wye- 



ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 67 

liffe fell on William Tyndale, later the martyred hero. 
In that year he published his translation of the New 
Testament. On account of his efforts to put the Bible 
into the hands of the common people he was forced to 
flee from England, but from his place of refuge on the 
continent, he poured copies of the English New Testa- 
ment into England in a flood. By order of Cardinal 
Wolsey, these books were bought up and destroyed ; but 
as fast as they were bought up and burned at St. Paul 's 
cross, the money paid for them as they were seized, was 
used to run the printing presses of Tyndale which turned 
out two or three copies for every one that the authori- 
ties destroyed. In 1530 Tyndale published his transla- 
tion of the Pentateuch, and in 1534, a revision of his 
New Testament of 1525. In 1536 he was put to death 
for his zeal and persistence in the work of giving the 
Bible to the English people in their own language. 

From 1525 for three quarters of a century there were 
numerous versions of the Bible published in England. 
Among the most noted and influential were : Miles Cov- 
erdale's Bible, 1535; Matthew's Bible, 1537; the Great 
Bible, 1540; the Geneva New Testament, 1557; the Ge- 
neva Bible, 1560; the Bishops' Bible, 1568; the Kheims 
New Testament, 1582; and the Douay Bible, 1609; these 
last two are translations of the Roman Catholic Church. 

In 1611 what is known as the Authorized Version w 7 as 
completed. It was translated and published under the 
direction of King James I of England. When King 
James came to the throne in 1603 he found the Geneva 
Bible supported by the people at large, and the Bishops' 
Bible supported by ecclesiastical authority. In order 
to harmonize the factions he called together fifty-four 
learned men from both the High Church and the Inde- 
pendent Church to undertake a new translation. The 
work was completed in 1611. Although this version 
did not win immediate acceptance, its qualities were such 
that it grew steadily in favor and within half a cen- 
tury was accepted by all English Protestants. No other 
English translation can compare with it in enduring 
vitality. It is noted for Soundness of scholarship, 
breadth of spirit, and beauty of diction. 



68 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

For two and a half centuries the Authorized Version 
held the field with little question of its supremacy. But 
in the nineteenth century the multiplication of ancient 
manuscripts hitherto unknown or inaccessible, the ad- 
vance in textual scholarship, and the inevitable changes 
in the English vocabulary were strong reasons for a re- 
vision of the Authorized Version. Accordingly, in Feb- 
ruary, 1870, action was taken by the Convocation of 
Canterbury and a distinguished array of divines and 
scholars began the work of revision. Not long after- 
wards American scholars were invited to participate in 
the work and two American companies began their labors 
in October, 1872. The revision of the New Testament 
was completed in 1881, and the entire Revised Version 
of the Bible appeared in May, 1885. 

Since the American committee had been consulted 
about all the work of revision, its members pledged them- 
selves to give their moral support to the authorized edi- 
tions published in England and not to issue an edition 
of their own for a term of fourteen years. During these 
fourteen years the American Committee had maintained 
its organization and had labored steadily to prepare 
a new American edition. So the American Standard 
Edition of the Revised Bible was issued in August, 1901. 
This edition includes not only the changes agreed upon 
by all the members of the British and American Com- 
mittees, the changes proposed by the American Com- 
mittee to the British revisers, but other textual changes 
and interpretations resulting from the studies of the 
American Committee during the fourteen years. Many 
verbal revisions were made also, in order that the text 
might be more nearly in accord with English usage in 
America. 

While the Revised Version is far superior to the King 
James Version in correctness of text, and exactness and 
clearness in translation, it will be many years before 
it can so completely win the hearts of the people as to 
take the place of the old version. It is doubtful whether 
in beauty of diction, pleasure of rhythm, and felicity of 
phrase it can rival the Authorized Version. Our ears 
must have time to become accustomed to its new ca- 



ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 69 

dences. Still, while the literary beauty of the old ver- 
sion is to be preferred, it is to be hoped that few will 
explain their preference as did the youthful English 
clergyman who objected to the new version in the words : 
"I much prefer the Authorized Version. A version 
that was good enough for St. Paul is good enough for 



CHAPTER V 

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE INDIVIDUAL BOOKS OF THE OLD 

TESTAMENT 

The books of the Old Testament as arranged in the 
English Bible are classified as follows : The Pentateuch, 
five books; Books of History, twelve; Books of Poetry, 
five; Books of the Major Prophets, five; Books of the 
Minor Prophets, twelve; a total of thirty -nine books. 
This classification is hardly logical or accurate, for the 
Pentateuch contains a great deal of history; Ecclesi- 
astes is not a book of poetry though classed as such; 
while Lamentations may be classed as both poetry and 
prophecy. The arrangement of the books in the English 
versions differs much from the order in the Hebrew 
Bible. There the division is three-fold: "The law," 
"the prophets/' and "the writings." 

The word Pentateuch means the "five-volumed book," 
These five books are sometimes called "the five books 
of Moses." They are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The books of history are, 
in order: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 
1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, 
Nehemiah, and Esther. The books classed as poetry are : 
Job, The Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song 
of Solomon. The books of the Greater Prophets are: 
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. 
The Lesser Prophets are : Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, 
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, 
Zechariah, and Malachi. 

So it will be seen that the unity of the Bible is spirit- 
ual and not mechanical. Though bound up in a single 
volume and called the "Bible," that is, the "Book," 
these thirty-nine books are separate works written by 
many different authors at different times. 

70 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 71 



The Pentateuch 

The Book of Genesis. The title means the book of 
beginnings. The first eleven chapters of the Book of 
Genesis give an account of the world's history down to 
the origin of the chosen people. An account of the 
creation of all things is given; the presence of evil in 
the world is explained; the beginning of civilization is 
shown ; the necessity for the punishment of sin is em- 
phasized ; and the diversity of languages and peoples is 
accounted for. The chapters from 12 to 50 present the 
history of the fathers of the Hebrew race, Abraham, 
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The stories about these great 
patriarchs make a sort of handbook of life. They fur- 
nish materials out of which the Hebrew race has con- 
structed its noblest and most inspiring ideals. Further 
discussion of these stories will be found in other chap- 
ters of this volume. 

The Book of Exodus. The word "Exodus" means 
"a going out." The Book of Genesis ends with the 
death of Joseph. Exodus opens with an account of the 
rapid increase of Jacob's descendants in Egypt and of 
the attempts to repress them. It shows the various 
steps toward the deliverance from bondage, then the 
journey to Sinai, the happenings at Sinai, and closes 
with the erection of the tabernacle in the second year 
of the wanderings. Genesis is pure narrative; Exodus 
combines narrative and law; besides, there are other 
parts dealing with the organization of the church 
and the state. Here it is shown how the great patri- 
archal family became a nation. As literature Exodus 
is not so attractive as Genesis. Genesis presents a suc- 
cession of hero-stories of absorbing interest; Exodus 
presents but one hero, Moses, though he is large enough 
and his life is filled with experiences varied and excit- 
ing enough to kindle the imagination and stir the heart. 

The Book of Leviticus. The title means that this is 
a book of laws. The book is a continuation of Exodus. 
It opens with an account of the laws which should 
govern the offerings and the ritual of the Hebrew sanc- 
tuary. The contents are purely legislative, the laws 



72 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

being civil, ceremonial, moral, religious, and sanitary. 
There are presented the fundamental laws of sacrifice, 
of purification, of atonement, and of vows and tithes. 
There is a section of several chapters called the "Law 
of Holiness/ 7 which is thought to be the oldest part of 
the Bible. Deuteronomy is chiefly a manual for the 
daily duties of the Hebrew, while Leviticus is a manual 
for the priest, giving the details of religious ceremonies 
over which he must preside. 

The Book of Numbers. This book is so called because 
it gives an account of two numberings of the people, at 
Sinai, and at Moab. In character it is much like Ex- 
odus, containing history, law, and accounts of the or- 
ganization of the nation. It is a brief account of what 
the nation did from the time it left Sinai till it arrived 
on the eastern border of Canaan. The book opens with 
a mustering of all the fighting men. There was to be 
hard fighting and every man "from twenty years old 
and upward," was enrolled in the army. The narra- 
tive is not so stirring as that of Genesis or Exodus, the 
events of the years of wandering in the wilderness being 
neither thrilling nor heroic. 

After the mustering the whole nation moves to the 
southern border of Canaan, spies are sent northward 
through "the promised land," and report a goodly land 
"flowing with milk and honey," but presenting so many 
obstacles to their invasion that it is not advisable to at- 
tempt a conquest. The people are panic-stricken and 
begin a retreat whose wanderings cover a period of 
thirty-eight years. The most attractive parts of the 
book are those in which Moses is brought before us, "in 
his solitary grandeur, patient strength, and heroic faith ; 
steadfast amidst jealousy, suspicion, and rebellion, and 
indicated by God himself as a prophet of transcendent 
privilege and power." 

One interesting feature of the book is the fragments 
of ancient poetry which it contains. One of these is 
quoted from an old book called "The Book of the Wars 
of the Lord," and all, doubtless, belong to a period 
earlier than the date of the narrative. The longer 
oracular poems spoken by Balaam are fresh and vigor- 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 73 

ous in form and imagination and are filled with a high 
sense of Israel's national destiny. 

The Booh of Deuteronomy. The name of this book 
indicates that it is a duplicate copy of the law. It was 
so called by the Alexandrian Jews because they regarded 
it as a restatement of all preceding legislation. There 
is first a historical introduction giving the time and 
place at which the discourses following were delivered. 
Then follow the three orations of Moses. In the first 
he reviews the circumstances of the journey of the 
Israelites to the border of Canaan, and concludes with 
an eloquent and practical appeal not to forget the les- 
sons learned at Sinai. The second discourse begins 
with chapter 5, rehearses the Ten Commandments as 
the basis of all the Mosaic legislation, and gives an ex- 
position of the law regarding reverence for God, and the 
duties and obligations regarding the sanctuary, political 
life, and social and domestic relations. The third dis- 
course begins with chapter 27. This oration insists 
upon loyalty to Jehovah, appeals to Israel to accept the 
terms of the Deuteronomic covenant, gives promise of 
restoration, if the nation shall show proper tokens of 
penitence, and sets before Israel the choice of life or 
death, blessing or cursing. Then follow the call and 
installation of Joshua, and the book concludes with the 
Song and Blessing of Moses. 

The purpose of Deuteronomy was to set forth the 
true nature of Israel's religious foundation, the laws 
that the people were to obey, and the spirit in which 
they were to obey them. It was really a great mani- 
festo against the dominant tendencies of the times in 
which it was written. In a literary way its influence 
upon subsequent books of the Old Testament was very 
great. 

Books op History 

The Booh of Joshua. This book is named from its 
chief character, Joshua, the successor to Moses. In its 
general characteristics it is much like parts of the Pen- 
tateuch. In classifying the books of the Bible it is some- 
times added to the Pentateuch, the whole being then 



74 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

called the Hexateuch. It covers a period of about twen- 
ty-five years, from the crossing of the Jordan to the 
allotment of land among the tribes. The first twelve 
chapters give an account of the conquest of Palestine; 
the next ten chapters contain full details of the divi- 
sion of the land among the tribes ; and the last two chap- 
ters tell of two farewell addresses of Joshua, and of his 
death and burial. As literature the Book of Joshua 
presents many dull chapters but some parts of stirring 
interest. Joshua is the only striking figure, but we do 
not stand in awe of him as we did of Moses and we do 
not become acquainted with him as we did with Jacob 
and Joseph. A few incidents are most vividly and ef- 
fectively put before us: the taking of Jericho, the sin 
and punishment of Achan, the campaign against Ai, the 
stratagem of the Gibeonites, and the famous battle at 
Bethhoron. 

The Book of Judges. This book, named from the title 
given the rulers of the time, presents pictures of a period 
in the history of Israel when the people were trying to 
gain complete possession of the land and to achieve na- 
tional unity. It consists largely of hero stories fitted 
into a chronological framework whose object is to show, 
by a definite formula, that the prosperity of Israel must 
depend upon the nation's faithfulness and devotion to 
Jehovah. The book is fragmentary and the events are 
chiefly local and tribal, not national. The judges were 
military dictators with religious authority, a sort of 
union of the warrior and the religious reformer. The 
extent of their rule was generally local. This may be 
called the age of heroes. As men were needed, they 
were raised up for particular emergencies. It was an 
age of lawlessness: during all this period there is no 
reference to the law of Moses. 

The book may be divided into three parts, the pref- 
ace, the main narrative, and the appendix. The pref- 
ace, consisting of two chapters and six verses, recounts 
a number of incidents of the time of Joshua and presents 
a formula according to which the history of the period 
repeats itself. The main narrative gives account of the 
working of the formula through a specified series of 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 75 

years, with emphasis on the exploits of particular judges. 
The appendix, five chapters, describes in detail two in- 
cidents belonging to the period : the migration of a part 
of the tribe of Dan, to the north, and the war of the 
other tribes against Benjamin, growing out of the out- 
rage at Gibeah. 

The Book of Judges is a most interesting story book. 
The characters set forth are real men and women and 
the incidents narrated are natural, vivid, striking. We 
can understand and sympathize with Gideon in his spec- 
tacular daring, Jephthah in his fanatical devoutness, De- 
borah in her exalted patriotism, and Samson in his 
fun and folly. The rigid chronological and didactic 
framework into which these stories are fitted can not 
destroy their charm. The song of Deborah, giving an 
account in poetry of the disastrous defeat of the army 
of Sisera, is a splendid relic from the early war lyrics 
of Israel. 

The Book of Ruth. This is a story of the time of the 
Judges. It is a picture of piety, contentment, love, de- 
votion, and tolerance in strange contrast to the idola- 
try, bloodshed, and violence of the age. Its purpose is 
to give an account of the ancestry of King David, and 
it may have been written as a protest against Ezra's 
severity concerning foreign wives. An analysis of this 
book will be found in another chapter of this volume. 

The Book of I Samuel. The two books of Samuel, so 
called because Samuel is the chief figure at the opening 
of the story, as found in the English versions, form but 
one book in the old Hebrew Bible. In the Septuagint 
it was divided into two books, as was done also with the 
following Book of Kings, and the four resulting books 
were called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Books of the Kings. 
First Samuel opens with events belonging to the age 
of the Judges when Eli was priest at Shiloh. The nar- 
rative presents the last days of Eli, the entire life of 
Samuel, the reign of Saul, the anointing of David, his 
life as an outlaw, his fame as a warrior, and closes with 
the death of Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa. First 
Samuel is a fine piece of Old Testament historical writ- 
ing. There are great men presented in its pages; Sam- 



76 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

uel, a majestic figure, the founder of the monarchy ; Saul, 
one of the saddest and most dramatic characters in Bible 
history ; and David the noble young man preparing him- 
self for a greater career as king of Israel. The tragic 
incidents in Saul's career, the romantic outlaw life of 
David, and the ideal friendship of Jonathan and David 
are set forth with vividness and power. 

The Booh of II Samuel. This book is closely con- 
nected with First Samuel. In the first chapter there is 
an account of the swift runner telling the news of the 
death of Saul and Jonathan to David in his far away 
place of refuge. He is overwhelmed with grief and 
gives expression to his sorrow in a beautiful poem of 
mourning, one of the most spontaneous and picturesque 
elegies in any language. The first chapters of the book 
tell of David's rule over Judah for seven and a half 
years, of his being chosen king of the whole of Israel, 
of his selection of the captured city of Jerusalem as his 
political capital, of the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem, 
and of the extending of the boundaries of the kingdom 
from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. The central 
part of the book gives an account of the court life and 
the unfortunate intrigues of David's family. The last 
five chapters detail various disconnected matters and 
events. 

The BooTc of I Kings. The first two chapters of this 
book give an account of the last days of David, of the 
plot of Adonijah to make himself king, and of the plac- 
ing of Solomon on the throne. In the nine following 
chapters are recorded the internal relations of the mon- 
archy, its foreign relations, its general condition of 
wealth and weakness, and a prediction of its speedy 
disruption. In chapter twelve begins an account of 
the division of the tribes, and the remaining ten chap- 
ters present the varying fortune of the two new king- 
doms. This section of the book is made up of brief 
summaries of the reigns of the kings, interspersed with 
longer stories of the interesting and exciting careers 
of the prophets. In the shorter narratives the facts 
are fitted into a stereotyped chronological framework 
which makes much of the recital seem mechanical. The 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 77 

stories in this book are more formal and didactic than 
those in the two preceding books. There are many 
vivid pictures, but we do not know the inner life of 
Solomon as we do that of David or Saul or Samuel. 
However, the stories of Elijah and Elisha found in the 
two books of Kings are among the most vivid narra- 
tives of the Old Testament. 

The Book of II Kings. The book of First Kings closes 
with the death of Ahab. Second Kings opens with 
Ahaziah on the throne of Israel and Jehoshaphat king 
of Judah. Elijah is closing his spectacular career as the 
national prophet of Israel, to be followed by the 
more commonplace Elisha. The interwoven fortunes of 
Judah and Israel are followed until Shalmaneser, king 
of Assyria, overcomes Hoshea, Israel's last king, and car- 
ries the people into captivity, thus ending the history 
of the northern kingdom (721 B.C.). The eight clos- 
ing chapters follow the decline of Judah to its over- 
throw. 

The Books of The Chronicles, I and II. The books 
of the Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, are evidently 
the work of a single author. The Chronicles cover the 
period from Adam to the edict of Cyrus permitting the 
exiles to return to Judah, 537 b. c. They thus cover 
the same period covered by the historical books from 
Genesis to Second Kings, but their point of view is very 
different. The author got his materials from these his- 
torical books and from a number of other books named 
in the narrative but not now in existence. The first 
ten chapters of I Chronicles are introductory and de- 
voted principally to genealogies from Adam to David 
and after. The last nineteen chapters go over again the 
history of the reign of David. The first nine chapters 
of II Chronicles are devoted to the history of Solomon 
and the remaining twenty-seven chapters, to the rest 
of the kings. As far as possible, everything discredita- 
ble to David, Solomon, and the other righteous kings 
of Judah is omitted from these books, and since the 
northern kingdom was not regarded as a part of the 
true Israel, it is almost entirely ignored, even Elijah 
and Elisha being scarcely mentioned. The point of 



78 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

view in these books is that God has for this people a 
particular mission and that all the happenings of their 
long and varied history were intended to work out that 
one purpose. 

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These books oc- 
cupy the last place in the Old Testament record of the 
history of the Hebrew people. The period covered in 
them extends from the time of the first return from 
captivity (536 B.C.), to the second visit of Nehemiah 
to Palestine (432 b. c). The first six chapters of Ezra 
give an account of the work done by Zerubbabel as 
governor, the chief of which is the rebuilding of the 
temple through many delays and discouragements. The 
last four chapters give an account of the journey of 
Ezra from the Persian court to Jerusalem and of his 
work and reforms. 

The Book of Nehemiah may be divided into four 
parts: the first is the story of Nehemiah ? s coming to 
Jerusalem and of his rebuilding the walls. The second 
gives an account of the wonderful revival of interest 
in the Scriptures through the influence of Ezra and 
Nehemiah. The third part consists of lists of dwellers 
in Jerusalem, the names of country towns inhabited by 
returned Jews, names of priests and Levites, and of 
priestly and Levitical families who returned in the time 
of Zerubbabel. 

The last section gives an account of the dedication of 
the walls, of the second return of Nehemiah, and of the 
reforms which he then instituted. 

The Book of Esther. The scenes of the Book of 
Esther are laid in the court of Ahasuerus, or Xerxes. 
It is a book of thrilling interest and of unusual literary 
value. There is a study of this book in another chap- 
ter of this volume. 

The Books of Poetry 

The five books classed as poetry are Job, The Psalms, 
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. The 
fact is that the book of Ecclesiastes is not in the form of 
poetry and that another book of the Bible, Lamenta- 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 79 

tions, not classed as poetry does have that form. How- 
ever, we shall discuss Ecclesiastes in this group as we 
are here following the old classification. 

The Book of Job. The old theory was that the Book 
of Job was written by Moses, but it is now believed to 
belong to a much later period. The main part of the 
book consists of a discussion carried on by Job, his three 
friends, Elihu, and Jehovah, in a series of poetic dis- 
courses. The discussion is introduced and concluded by 
brief prose narratives, the Prologue and the Epi- 
logue. The problem of the poem is to discover whether 
righteousness in men is disinterested, and whether the 
suffering which a man must endure in the world is al- 
ways sent as a punishment for sin. A brief study of 
the book will be found in another chapter of this volume. 

The Book of Psalms. The Hebrew title for this book 
is a word meaning "praise-songs." This volume is not 
simply one book but is made up of five books containing 
the work of a number of authors. There are one hun- 
dred and fifty of the psalms and they were written 
through a period of possibly 1000 years. It is a wonder- 
ful collection of sacred poetry, lofty in thought and 
feeling, and touching all the vicissitudes of human ex- 
perience from the depths of trouble to the heights of 
joy. There is a further discussion of the Psalms in 
another chapter of this volume. 

The Book of Proverbs. The Book of Proverbs, like 
the Book of Job, deals with the system of Providential 
rewards and punishments, but deals with their practical 
application rather than with their theological signifi- 
cance. The fundamental idea set forth is that the world 
is morally governed. There are seven divisions of the 
chapters of this book: The praise of wisdom, chapters 
I to IX ; the proverbs of Solomon, chapters X to XXII ; 
the sayings of the wise, chapters XXIII to XXIV ; the 
second selection of Solomon's proverbs, chapters XXV 
to XXIX; the words of Augur, chapter XXX; the 
words of King Lemuel, chapter XXXI : 1-9 ; an acrostic 
poem in praise of the good wife, chapter XXXI : 10-31. 

The wise men who spoke these proverbs were a distinct 
class apart from priests and prophets. They were keen 



80 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

observers of all the relations of life. They brought into 
sharp contrast with each other the wise and the foolish, 
the rich and the poor, the slothful and the diligent ; and 
such deep knowledge of human nature did they have 
that their sayings are as fresh and true to nature as if 
spoken to-day. 

The Booh of Ecclesiastes. This book, as has been 
said before, although classed as a poem, is really in the 
form of prose. It deals with the meaning and value 
of life, discusses the question whether life, under the 
most favorable circumstances, is really worth living. 
It is written in the name of Solomon, but simply as a 
matter of literary form. In chapters one and two the 
" Preacher " reviews the different objects which men 
pursue, labor, wisdom, pleasure, riches, and finds in 
each only vanity and vexation of spirit. Chapters three 
and four declare that there is a time and season for all 
things but wonder who can find them. Human society 
is surveyed and only trouble, failure, and disappoint- 
ment are seen. Chapters five to twelve present ma- 
terials somewhat obscure, yet the conclusion is not so 
pessimistic as in the first chapter; the real aim of life 
and the true basis of happiness are made clear. 

The Song of Solomon. This poem is either a primi- 
tive drama or a collection of love-songs. The book has 
been included in the canon because the Hebrews re- 
garded it as an allegory of the love of Jehovah and 
Israel, and the Christian Fathers held the same view 
except that Christ and the Church were substituted for 
Jehovah and Israel. See further account of this book 
in another chapter. 

The Major Prophets 

The Book of Isaiah. Isaiah is reckoned the greatest 
of all the prophets of the Old Testament. Little is 
known of the details of his life, yet he was a part of 
many of the stirring events depicted in his prophecies. 
The book is a long one, consisting of sixty-six chapters. 
Most scholars attribute the work to two different au- 
thors, the First Isaiah being credited with the first 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 81 

thirty-nine chapters, and the Second Isaiah, with the 
last twenty-seven chapters. The first division deals 
with prophecies about Israel and Judah and foreign 
nations, Assyria being the great enemy. The second 
part may be called the "Book of Consolations." It 
is a continuous prophecy dealing hopefully with the res- 
toration of Israel from the Babylonian captivity and 
presenting enthusiastic pictures of the ideal kingdom 
and the Messianic King. 

In literary power the writings of Isaiah take high 
rank. He uses a wealth of appropriate and vivid illus- 
trations. For these he draws on all regions and aspects 
of nature and on every department of human life. He 
is orator, poet, teacher. He has the declamatory elo- 
quence and fluency of the orator, the fine imagination 
and wonderful vision of the poet, and the didactic con- 
creteness, the passionate earnestness, and the singleness 
of purpose, of the devoted teacher. The last twenty- 
six chapters are full of fine strains of poetry and oratory 
made vivid by a glorious imagination, and impressive 
by dramatic outbursts of lofty fervor. 

The Book of Jeremiah. This book is a combination of 
history, biography, and prophecy. Jeremiah lived in 
the midst of the tragic scenes of the destruction of 
Jerusalem. His words of warning and exhortation were 
unheeded by his countrymen, who even persecuted him 
for his plain speaking. He was deeply affected by their 
attitude and by the ruin which he foresaw would come 
upon his country. So he breaks out in bitter lamenta- 
tions and cries aloud to God for vengeance. The book 
closes with an account of the capture of Jerusalem by 
the Chaldeans and the sending of the people into exile. 

There are many new ideas presented in Jeremiahs 
writings. Two grand thoughts are the ideality and the 
universality of religion. He declares that every man 
as such is born a child of God ; that a pure mind and a 
pure heart are all that God requires of a man. Jere- 
miah's life was so troubled, so sad, so misunderstood, 
that his writings are saturated with gloom. But it is 
not right to say that his life-story is pathetic; it is 
stronger than that — it is tragic; it is the story of a 



82 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

courageous and resourceful man fighting a losing bat- 
tle. The book is indeed a remarkable " human docu- 
ment." 

The Book of Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel was car- 
ried in captivity to Babylon, b. c. 597. He was a 
younger contemporary of Jeremiah. Ezekiel marks the 
transition from the prophet to the scribe or theologian 
in Jewish history. The older prophets were first of all 
preachers, and their utterances were usually reduced 
to writing by others. But Ezekiel not only delivered his 
prophecies to audiences, but wrote them down methodi- 
cally in a book. His prophecies are rendered vivid and 
sometimes obscure by his use of visions and symbols. 
The first twenty-four chapters of the book deal with 
predictions of the fall of Jerusalem. The next eight 
chapters present prophecies regarding foreign nations, 
and the last sixteen chapters speak of the restoration 
and re-allotment of the land, of the ideal temple, and of 
Jehovah — Triumphant. The literary style of Ezekiel 
is much more artificial than that of Isaiah. There is 
great elaboration of details and profusion of strange 
and obscure symbolism. 

The Book of Lamentations. An ancient tradition 
credits this work to Jeremiah, but modern scholars say 
that the author is unknown. The book is poetic in form, 
each of the five chapters being a complete and inde- 
pendent poem. The first four are alphabetic acrostics. 
In chapters one, two, and four, each verse of the twenty- 
two begins with the corresponding letter of the Hebrew 
alphabet, in order ; in chapter three each letter is given 
three verses, all three beginning with the corresponding 
letter of the alphabet. In chapter five there are twenty- 
two verses, but they are not arranged in alphabetical 
order. 

The Book of Daniel. This book consists of twelve 
chapters, six relating stories about Daniel and his com- 
panions, and six presenting his dreams and visions. 
The stories of the first division are : faithfulness to a na- 
tional law; Nebuchadnezzar's dream; idolatry and the 
fiery furnace; the tree cut down; the tragic feast; the 
lions' den. The last division details four prophetic 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 83 

visions: the four beasts; the ram and the he-goat; the 
seventy weeks; the last vision. The four beasts sym- 
bolize the four great world powers, Babylonian, Medo- 
Persian, Persian, and Macedonian. The second vision 
shows the four-fold development of the Macedonian 
power. In the third vision the angel Gabriel delivers 
a message regarding the Messianic kingdom. The last 
vision foretells the course of events under the tyrannical 
king Antiochus Epiphanes. 

The Minor Prophets 

The Book of Hosea. This book is the first and longest 
of the twelve. Hosea lived in the northern kingdom. 
It appears that his wife had been unfaithful to him and 
he uses this experience as an allegory of the unfaithful- 
ness of Israel to Jehovah. In the last eleven chapters 
he denounces Israel for its combination of immorality 
and ritualism and for the cruelty and oppression of 
nobles and priests. 

The Book of Joel. Apparently the prophecies pre- 
sented in this book were delivered on the occasion of 
a plague of locusts which had been so severe as to cause 
the regular temple offerings to be suspended. The 
prophet proclaims the "Day of the Lord" as a season 
of terrible calamities from which Judah may be de- 
livered by repentance; then the spirit of the Lord will 
be poured out upon the people. 

The Book of Amos. Amos declares that he is not a 
professional prophet, but a peasant of Tekoa, "a herds- 
man and dresser of sycamore trees." There are three 
divisions of the book. The first proclaims the condem- 
nation and punishment of heathen nations; the second 
arraigns Israel and pronounces its doom; and the third 
presents five visions depicting the sure destruction of 
Jerusalem, and closes with a picture of the coming of 
the new kingdom and the reign of plenty. 

The Book of Obadiah. The occasion of this prophecy 
was the brutality of Edom in rejoicing over the captiv- 
ity and ruin of Jerusalem. The one chapter speaks 
of Edom's guilt and punishment, the extension of the 



84 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

punishment to all heathen nations, and of the promise 
of the restoration of Israel. 

The Book of Jonah. Although this book stands among 
the prophetical books it does not contain prophecies; 
it is an anonymous narrative. A more extended ac- 
count is given on another page. 

The Book of Micah. Mieah was a contemporary of 
Isaiah, and pronounced judgment upon Israel for na- 
tional sins, particularly for social sins and covenant- 
breaking. He then recounts what God has done for 
Israel and promises mercy and restoration after re- 
pentance. 

The Book of Nahum. This book has but one theme, 
the destruction of Nineveh. The prophet announces the 
coming ruin of that city because of its defiance of Je- 
hovah, its oppression of Judah, and because it was a 
"bloody city, all full of lies and robbery." 

The Book of Habakkuk. The situation as seen by the 
prophet in this book is that Jerusalem must certainly 
fall before the rising Chaldean power, and he is greatly 
distressed because he can not understand how such a re- 
sult can advance righteousness in the world. So he 
challenges Jehovah to defend his action in thus govern- 
ing the world. It is the problem of Job over again. 
Jehovah is represented as answering the challenge and 
telling the prophet that he can see but a small part of 
Jehovah's great plan, that so far as the Chaldeans are 
wicked they too must perish, and that righteousness 
will at last prevail in the world. 

The Book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah was a great 
grandson of Hezekiah and prophesied during the reign 
of Josiah. A dark day of destruction for all nations is 
foretold. Judah shall suffer because of the wickedness 
of its rulers, priests, and prophets ; Philistia, Moab, Am- 
nion, Ethiopia, and Nineveh shall in succession be 
ruined. But there shall be a purged and purified rem- 
nant whom the Lord shall bring back from captivity. 

The Books of Haggai and Zechariah. "When these 
two prophets appeared, 42,000 returned exiles had been 
living in Jerusalem sixteen years. For two years they 
had worked at rebuilding the Temple ; for fourteen years 



BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 85 

the work had been at a standstill. So Haggai and Zech- 
ariah were commissioned to arouse the Jews to greater 
energy in the rebuilding. Their prophecies delivered 
in burning and inspiring words stirred the people to 
such enthusiasm that the Temple soon rose from its 
ruins. 

The Book of Malachi. This book is anonymous and 
undated, but clearly belongs to the days of Ezra and 
Nehemiah. The Temple had been restored but the peo- 
ple were disappointed because they had not realized a 
glorious Messianic kingdom. Malachi seeks to recall 
the allegiance of the people to Jehovah and revive the 
national spirit. He shows that Jehovah is the moral 
governor of the world and that it pays to serve him. 
The book closes with an exhortation to the people to 
obey the law, and with a promise of the coming of 
Elijah. 



OLD TESTAMENT STOEIES 



CHAPTER VI 

CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 

The Great Teacher in his teaching made frequent and 
effective use of stories. He thus made the abstract ideas, 
the vital truths of his Gospel clear and concrete to his 
hearers. When a lawyer asked him the meaning of 
the word neighbor, he defined it by telling the immortal 
story of The Good Samaritan. In order to make forci- 
ble application of the wonderful Sermon on the Mount, 
he concluded it with the story of The Two Houses. In 
the ancient days when the prophet Nathan wanted to 
reach the conscience of King David, he told him the 
simple, moving story of the One Ewe Lamb ; and when 
Jotham wished to convince the people of Shechem of 
their folly in selecting Abimelech to rule over them, 
he recited to them the Fable of the Trees. 

Stories are valuable for many purposes; they may 
entertain, instruct, portray life, move to action, or 
teach love for virtue and abhorrence of vice. To amuse 
and entertain is an important function of the story. 
"We can not live always in the work-a-day world. We 
are creatures of imagination and must at times be 
taken out of our busy lives and forget for a while the 
cares that beset us. Stories make this possible. We 
who have not the creative power may live in the imagi- 
nation of the more gifted. The stories of Kuth, of 
Esther, and of Joseph appeal strongly to the imagina- 
tion and are entertaining although their main purpose 
is to give definite moral instruction. The stories that 
tell of the doings of Samson have a less serious purpose. 
He is the nation's humorous hero who discomfits Israel's 
enemies by playing pranks on them, pranks which are 
fun for Samson but death for the Philistines. One ex- 
ample of Samson's tragic pranks is found in Judges, XV : 

89 



90 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

1 to S. Samson has returned to Timnath to visit his 
wife whom he had left in a hull because she had be- 
trayed the meaning of his riddle. He finds that she has 
been given by her father to another man and he takes 
characteristic revenge. 

And Samson said concerning them. Now shall I be more blame- 
less than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And 
Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took fire 
brands, and turned tail to tail, and put a fire brand in the midst 
between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, 
he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and 
burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the 
vineyards and olives. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done 
this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Tim- 
nite. because he has taken his wife, and given her to his com- 
panion. And the Philistines came up. and burnt her and her 
father with fire. And Samson said unto them, Though ye 
have done this, yet will I be avenged of you. and after that I 
will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great 
slaughter : and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock 
Etam. 

Another function of the story is to instruct. This is 
the chief purpose of ' ' The Pilgrim 's Progress. * ' li Oliver 
Twist'' was written to expose the evils of the poor-law 
system of England: "Bleak House*' is an indictment 
of the courts of equity: "Never Too Late to Mend" was 
written to condemn the English penal system; and 
doubtless the Book of Ruth is a protest against the nar- 
row exelusiveness of the Jews of the time of Ezra. 
There are many stories of purpose, both long and short, 
in the Old Testament. The story of the intended sacri- 
fice of Isaac is plainly a lesson in supreme obedience, to 
the Hebrews of all succeeding generations. It is a story 
of fascinating interest told briefly, swiftly, and vividly. 

And it came to pass after these things., that God did tempt 
;ham. and said unto him, Abraham-, and he said. Behold, here 
I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, 
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah: and 
offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains 
which I will tell thee of. 

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his 
ass. and took two of his young men with him. and Isaac his son. 
and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went 
unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third 



OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 91 

day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the 
ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come 
again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, 
and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, 
and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac 
spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he 
said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the 
wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham 
said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offer- 
ing: so they went both of them together. 

And they came to the place which God had told him of; and 
Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and 
bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to 
slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of 
heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou 
anything unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing 
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And 
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him 
a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and 
took the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead 
of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah- 
Jireh : as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall 
be seen. 

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven 
the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the 
Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with- 
held thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, 
and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the 
heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy 
seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall 
all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed 
my voice. So Abraham returned unto the young men, and they 
rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt 
at Beer-sheba. 

Still another function of the story is to portray hu- 
man life. Stories may give us the most vivid pictures 
of life and manners of other times. Homer is the best 
authority on early Greek life. Lorna Doone is a fasci- 
nating picture of the life and times of Charles II ; and 
Sir Walter Scott and Dr. Watson give true and vivid 
pictures of early and modern Scotch life. Stories may 
go further and portray the innermost life of the in- 
dividual. The historian tells only what has been seen 
and heard, the external facts, while the true story-teller 



92 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

gathering together the facts, transfuses them in the 
crucible of his imagination and presents a living pic- 
ture of the whole ; it is no half-tone portrait ; it is a liv- 
ing, breathing picture. Many books of the Bible pre- 
sent such pictures and portraits. It is possible to con- 
struct from the narratives of Genesis, for example, the 
world of the ancient patriarchs in many definite details, 
and to see the men, who speak and act, as real, living 
men of heroic size. 

But the highest function of the story is to depict the 
moral forces of life, the forces which make for good 
or evil. If it portrays life faithfully, the reader will re- 
volt from the evil because it is ugly and repulsive, and 
be drawn to the good because it is beautiful and attrac- 
tive. Many of the Bible stories show unusual direct- 
ness in striking at the heart of a situation where right 
and wrong have been confused. Two shining examples 
of such stories, incisive and effective, are Nathan's 
story told to David (2 Samuel, XII), and Jotham's fable 
recited to the men of Shechem (Judges, IX). 

It will be remembered that King David, when he 
wished to make the beautiful Bathsheba his wife, caused 
her husband, the faithful and loyal Uriah, to be put in 
the forefront of the battle where he was killed. The 
prophet Nathan was sent to David to reprimand him 
for this gross sin. He put his rebuke in the form of 
a story. 

There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other 
poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But 
the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he 
had bought and nourished up ; and it grew up together with 
him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat and 
drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as 
a daughter. 

And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared 
to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the 
wayfaring man that was come unto him; but he took the poor 
man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 

And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and 
he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done 
this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb four- 
fold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man! 



OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 93 

Poe 's theory of the short-story is that the writer must 
first choose a single effect to be wrought out, and then 
make every word tend toward the preestablished design. 
This story is a model in terseness and swiftness. Na- 
than knew the effect he wanted to produce and made 
every phrase tend toward it. The design is skillfully 
concealed until in the last sentence, it flashes forth like a 
stunning lightning stroke. 

After the death of Gideon, Abimelech, one of his 
seventy sons, was ambitious to succeed his father as the 
ruler of Israel. He received financial and military aid 
from his mother's people and took upon himself the au- 
thority of a king. To make himself secure he killed all 
his brethren except Jotham who hid himself. Then all 
the people of Shechem gathered together to formally 
crown their new king. 

And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the 
top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and 
said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God 
may hearken unto you : The trees went forth on a time to anoint 
a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou 
over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my 
fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to 
be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, 
Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, 
Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be 
promoted over the trees? Then the trees said unto the vine, 
Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, 
Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go 
to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto 
the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble 
said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, 
then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let 
fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 
If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Gideon and with 
his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him 
also rejoice in you: but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech 
and devour the men of Shechem. And Jotham ran away, and fled, 
and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his 
brother. 

Besides the functions given and illustrated, stories 
have a peculiar value in the education of children. 
Eicher educational material for this purpose may be 
found in stories than in any other form of literature. 



94 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

Well chosen stories skillfully and sympathetically pre- 
sented will open the minds and hearts of children mar- 
velously, A very practical use of them may be made 
in adding interest to the drudgery of the ordinary les- 
sons in reading, writing, and spelling. All the faculties 
and interests of children may be appealed to by stories. 
They concentrate the flitting attention, cultivate the 
feeling, train the imagination, and teach simple lessons 
through concrete images. They do in fact give experi- 
ence in living, living which, besides cultivating the 
faculties of the child, is a pure and continuous joy. 



CHAPTER VII 

GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK FOR CHILDREN 

It is the birthright of the child to know, in the years 
when he can understand them, the old stories that have 
grown out of the heart and imagination of the race, 
They contain elements of thought and imagination that 
the ages have softened and refined and each succeeding 
generation has pronounced worthy and significant 
The particular elements that children's stories must 
have are found in richer abundance in the Genesis 
stories than in any others. 

Children's stories must be full of wonder, must ap- 
peal to the imagination; must have concreteness and 
definiteness ; must have an atmosphere of freshness and 
vigor; must present feelings not over-refined, not arti- 
ficial, not romantic ; must have indeed a little primitive 
savagery; must have strength of plot, something hap- 
pening all the time. There must be, also, another ele- 
ment which defies analysis, an ethical element, a some- 
thing that has been added to them as they have been 
told through the ages, a spiritual force that came out 
of life and can beget life; herein is the chief value of 
stories. 

It is interesting and important to test the Genesis 
stories by these requirements. First, children's stories 
must be full of wonder. These stories fulfill this con- 
dition remarkably well. At the very beginning there 
is a Great Being who speaks the word and the world 
takes shape. He says, "Let there be light," and the 
miracle of light comes. He creates a wonderful garden 
out of which flow four great rivers that go to the four 
quarters of the globe. And in that garden are planted 
wonderful trees, trees of the most luxuriant foliage, bril- 

95 



96 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

liant blossoms, and delicious fruits. Then there is the 
story of the great flood that covered all the earth, of the 
large ship in which were collected animals of every kind 
to save them from death, of its floating upon the wa- 
ters until they subsided, and it rested on Mount Ararat. 
Then there is the story of the rainbow, that seven-hued 
arch which was to be to man a symbol of mercy and 
protection ; also the story of the tower of Babel, and the 
tragic tale of the cities of the plain consumed by fire 
from heaven. These and others furnish rich materials 
for the satisfaction of the wonder-loving desires of the 
children. In these stories there is a strong appeal to 
the imagination. "Wordsworth said, "Heaven lies about 
us in our infancy." To the Hebrew heaven was ever 
close at hand. To him it was no surprise that God's 
messengers came and went familiarly between the earth 
and the near sky. He had little sense of surprise or 
mystery even in the presence of the miraculous. These 
stories appeal to the imagination of children because 
their writers were children perennially. 

The third characteristic of children's stories is con- 
creteness and definiteness. The Old Testament is all 
pictorial. "All the past is taken up in metaphor for 
the future." Abstract truth is made concrete forever 
by a story. The story of Cain and Abel is worth a 
whole volume on the sin of violence and murder. The 
story of Adam and Eve in the Garden makes clear the 
problem of temptation and sin. 

Children's stories must be somewhat primitive, too; 
not over refined, not artificial, not romantic. Even a 
little ferocity is desirable. This may seem strange but 
it is true. This period of ferocity is a shortened herit- 
age of primitive instincts — shortened we are glad to 
say — but it can not be ignored. Any truthful account 
of the history of any people must tell of two forces in 
conflict, human nature, brutal, savage, domineering, 
and divine nature at work upon the lower nature with 
infinite persistence and patience. You can not leave out 
the hoof, the nail, and the claw. So Bible stories have 
besides their simplicity, tenderness and passion for 
holiness, elements of cruelty and horror. 



GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 97 

There must be feeling in children's stories, but not of 
the passionate kind, not the artificial kind. The child 
will enjoy a love scene but it must be matter-of-fact and 
simple. In Genesis, XXIX: 20 we read, "And Jacob 
served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him 
but a few days for the love he had to her. ' ' This illus- 
trates the simple, apparently unemotional way the Bible 
has of telling a love story. It is effective, but a modern 
novel would have made half a score of chapters and as 
many "balcony scenes" out of it. Children's stories 
must be simple and natural; Bible stories are remark- 
able for their simplicity and naturalness. 

Children demand interesting plots in their stories; 
there must something happen and keep on happening. 
There can be no psychological analysis and reflection on 
things in general while the action of the story waits. 
In the Bible stories are found thrilling narratives and 
interesting characters who go through most exciting 
experiences. There are far-reaching actions told in a 
few words. The story of Joseph is interesting to chil- 
dren from start to finish, from the time he puts on his 
little coat of many colors to the time he greets his ven- 
erable father who has come down into the land of Egypt 
to spend the remainder of his life with his famous son. 

But the peculiar greatness of the Bible stories is due 
to their ethical qualities. No other stories furnish so 
richly the knowledge and feeling needed for the guid- 
ance of the child when he begins to know right and 
wrong; when he first becomes personally acquainted 
with sin, feels the consequent fear and shame, and 
gropes blindly for light and leading. The Genesis 
stories seem especially intended for children in their 
first struggles with evil. 

All minds should be fed, in their youth, on "the 
dream stuff of the poets and sages." The myths of 
Greece and Rome are good dream stuff, but the Bible 
furnishes better. The highest use of literature is not 
to fill us with facts, but to set us to thinking and feeling. 
The old stories should fill the children with the spirit 
of the great men of whom they tell. The most striking 
and significant of the Genesis stories are The Fall, Cain 



98 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

and Abel, and The Flood. Here follow interpretations 
of the three. 

The Great Separation 

This story of the Garden of Eden deals with the 
greatest problem of the world, the problem of sin. 
The title usually given to the story is Paradise and the 
Fall. The meaning is better conveyed by the title given 
above, for it is the story of man's separation from God. 
Many readers view the story as one of symbolism. It 
need make no difference to the children whether we ac- 
cept it as a literal story or not. The lesson is unmis- 
takable in either case. Even as a true story the 
meaning is symbolical. The serpent symbolizes evil and 
represents the force of temptation, and man's heel 
crushing the serpent is holiness crushing evil. 

The most perplexing of all problems is the problem 
of sin, not only as a philosophical question, but as an 
intensely practical one which must be dealt with in the 
case of every child when he first awakens to a knowledge 
of right and wrong. We should expect this great guide- 
book in matters of conduct to furnish some teaching on 
this perplexing point, and we are not disappointed. 
The story is clear and illuminating. Every one must 
acknowledge that it is a faithful transcript of human 
experience. Its teachings may be stated as follows: 
there is a period of innocence for all of us, then sin 
comes bringing an inevitable struggle. If we lose in 
the struggle there follow a sense of shame, a feeling of 
fear, and an attempt to hide ourselves. Guilt naturally 
brings separation. Then punishment and the curse 
must follow. 

In every human life there is a period of innocence, 
and in this period there is no training of the will 
through the exercise of choice, hence no moral charac- 
ter. It is a law of life that moral character must be 
developed by struggle. Even boys will recognize the 
fact that their playmate for whom all things are made 
easy, is but a weakling. That boy is to be pitied from 
whom all temptation has been removed by fond and 
foolish parents. This old story shows the true method. 



GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 99 

A tempter was permitted to suggest to the two children 
in the garden that their Father's command of irksome 
obedience was not fair. So in the world, every child 
may obey or disobey as he chooses. 

Shame and fear naturally follow transgression. The 
innocent, unoffending child does not think of himself. 
He is so full of thoughts of father, mother, brother, 
sister, playmates, and pets that he is not at all self- 
conscious. It is psychologically true that when he has 
done wrong, he does think of himself, he wants to 
hide himself. Adam and Eve had not thought of them- 
selves as they went about their tasks in innocent joy; 
but now their eyes are no longer turned to their kind 
Father, to the beautiful things of the garden, but upon 
themselves. They have learned the first lesson in self- 
ishness and guilt and fear. God had been accustomed 
to walk in the garden to meet them, and they, like chil- 
dren ran joyfully to meet him when they heard him 
coming, just as children run to meet their father com- 
ing home to them at the close of the day. But now 
when these first children hear their Father's footsteps 
they are, for the first time, startled and afraid. At his 
coming they are in terror instead of being glad and 
happy. 

Separation is inevitable after disobedience and sin. 
No one will deny that we have something of God's spirit 
in us always ; that this spirit dominates us in our hours 
of innocent goodness. But this spirit can not dwell 
with disobedience and sin. It withdraws from us when 
we admit these two into our lives. This separation is 
inevitable. Children may not understand very clearly 
the symbolism of the story, or not at all the philosophy 
of it, but they can understand that these first children 
not having obeyed their Father, could not go on living 
in his garden. Separation must come. So Adam and 
Eve were sent out of the garden, but not because God 
was angry with them; the story does not say that. 
They were sent out from the protection of the garden 
to be tested further. They had had their chance and 
had failed. The next test must be made under very 
different and very much harder conditions. The 



100 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

harder conditions constitute the curse. The sentence 
was really a punishment but the punishment was a 
blessing to them. It meant hardship but it meant at 
the same time character-development. No one should 
misread the story and say that a curse was placed upon 
them. The curse was placed upon the earth so that 
their labor in subduing it should be greater. There 
must be a difference between the luxurious life of the 
garden and the life of toil in the world, which makes 
for character. Man in subduing the earth is to subdue 
and at the same time to exalt himself. The real punish- 
ment is the separation from the great Father who had 
been so kind to them. 

Cain and Abel, or the Lesson of Self-Control 

The story of Cain and Abel is a story to teach self- 
control. That is, it is a story of unbridled passion 
which indirectly teaches the lesson of self-control. The 
refusal of Cain's offering is not important, except that 
it gives an opportunity for him to control himself or 
to give full rein to his passions. Cain was not such a 
wicked man but that he might have had his offering 
accepted if he had tried again, in humility seeking to 
know wherein he had failed at first. The Lord speaks 
very kindly to him, wishing to give him another chance : 
"Why art thou wroth and why is thy countenance 
fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? 
And if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door, 
and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over 
it." 

Every disobedient child is like Cain so long as he is 
resentful and does not wish to "do well" again. "And 
if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door," 
crouching, ready to spring, waiting to be master over 
Cain, "but do thou rule over it." In the new version 
the word coucheth takes the place of lieth. This new 
word makes a stronger appeal to the imagination. It 
is as if Cain's sin were some creature, wild and watch- 
ful, patiently waiting for a chance to use its poison 
fangs. Cain is heedless and his tiger-like anger masters 
him. This implied allegory is vivid and striking. 



GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 101 

"And Cain said unto his brother Abel — and it came 
to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up 
against Abel his brother and slew him." It would ap- 
pear that there is something omitted from verse 8; it 
should most likely read: "And Cain said to his 
brother Abel, let us go into the field." We may believe 
that Abel accepted the invitation as a reconciliation and 
went gladly with his brother. Little did he know what 
was in Cain's heart; for while they were talking in the 
field together, Cain gave way to his wrath and fell upon 
Abel and slew him. Again God spoke to Cain, but in 
what a different way ! He was not now trying to induce 
Cain to be good, but was passing sentence upon him for 
his dreadful sin. And yet, any child may be shown, 
and can understand, that God was merciful to Cain 
even when he was punishing him, as a father always 
is, or should be, when he punishes his child. He had 
sent Adam and Eve out of the garden that they might 
learn by hard work and sorrow how to be good. Now 
he sends Cain away from his home and family that he 
may be made better by loneliness and hard work. 

The reasons given for Cain's deep grief at his banish- 
ment seem to be sufficient, but there is another one im- 
plied which may be the strongest one of all. The belief 
prevailed at that time and for centuries after that God 
was present only in Palestine; therefore, when Cain 
went out from the region which had been his home, he 
would be going out from God's presence and protec- 
tion. So the mark that was made for him was very 
significant. No doubt it was a star in the sky or some 
natural object which, when seen by Cain, should remind 
him that he was not too far away from his Father to 
be protected by him, not only from those who might 
try to kill him, but from all sorts of danger. Another 
important lesson taught by this story is to be drawn 
from Cain's answer when Jehovah asked him what had 
become of his brother Abel. "Am I my brother's 
keeper?" is a question that selfishness has asked in every 
age of the world since that time. It is a universal ques- 
tion; and the most satisfactory answer that has ever 
been given to it is the answer found in the story of the 
Good Samaritan. 



102 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 

The story of Noah's ark is always popular with chil- 
dren. It appeals to their imagination because of its 
striking features — the great ship so long in building, 
the animals so numerous and interesting, the terri 
rain storm, the overwhelming flood, the exciting voyage 
of the great ship over the submerged earth, the anxiety 
of the inmates, the sending out of the raven, and the 
dove, the subsidence of the waters, the landing of Noah 
and his family on the mountain. This is all romantic 
and wonderful enough to stir the interest of any child. 

There is no need to tell children that many other 
peoples besides the Hebrews have stories of floods; the 
Greeks, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Scandinavians, 
and others. Later it will be possible to tell them about 
these many flood legends, to show them how other sto- 
ries diner from the one found in the Bible. For it may 
be shown that this story common to so many peoples 
has been taken by the writer of Genesis and turned into 
a story of wonderful significance, of profound religious 
teaching. 

There are two lessons taught with exceeding great 
emphasis by this story. First, wickedness must be pun- 
ished ; and second. God cares for man when he is obedi- 
ent, and desires to assure him of his safety. It would 
appear that the men of those days had few redeeming 
traits. Their conduct was not only bad, but their 
thoughts and imaginings were always evil. There is 
not much room for mercy here. The kindest justice 
requires fearful punishment. The earth must have a 
thorough, a cleansing bath. The pollution of the old 
race must be washed away and the new race have a 
fresh, clean start in a new, clean world. The second 
lesson is taught by the lovely synibolisra of the rainbow. 
God had given Cain a sign of mercy in the mark which 
was appointed to him ; and now the whole future race 
is to remember that heaven and earth are not far apart, 
that the great Father is always brooding over and pro- 
tecting his children, and that they may surely know of 
his loving guardianship. They are given the glorious, 



GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 103 

shining arch of promise, an arch which rests upon the 
earth and rises into the heavens bringing them closer 
together than men ever before thought they were. 

Noah was the first great reformer. Abel and Enoch 
were good men but did not impress the world. Noah 
took the wickedness of the world more to heart. He 
wanted to save the world. And he did, but at a great 
cost. At that fearful cost men have been taught for all 
time the important lesson that corruption cannot con- 
quer the world. There will come a time of cleansing 
and purification. Noah walked forth from the ark 
upon the clean-washed earth, under the rainbow of 
hope, to be a shining example of accomplishment to all 
who hate wickedness and love righteousness. 

These interpretations will serve to show how rich 
Genesis is in story material, and how well suited these 
stories are to train children in character and conduct. 
In the first eleven chapters are found stories of primi- 
tive life, of a time when standards of conduct and prin- 
ciples of right and wrong were not yet clearly discerned 
by men. The remaining thirty-nine chapters tell the 
story of the Patriarchal Family. In these chapters 
there is a recital of the incidents in the lives of four 
great world characters, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and 
Joseph, whose lives are full of qualities and experiences 
that influence other lives. From the deeds and char- 
acters of these four there can be formulated a pretty 
complete handbook of life. It is impossible to measure 
the influence they have had on the world — Abraham, 
the first and greatest, a pioneer, a pilgrim, and the 
father of faith; Isaac, the domesticated man, not a far 
traveler, but a man of patient, faithful industry ; Jacob, 
a Hebrew Ulysses, a born leader and a trickster, but 
later a man of vision ; Joseph, an optimist, the story of 
whose life has a perpetual charm, and out of which the 
heart-break and the triumph will never die. It is a 
wonderful group and their virtues have become perma- 
nent ideals in the world. 

As further illustrations of the interesting and valu- 
able qualities of Bible stories, and oP the method of 
analyzing them, there are presented in the following 



104 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

chapters studies of three of the best known and most 
instructive of the Bible short stories — Ruth, Esther and 
Jonah. These are books that fulfill well the literary 
requirements of the short-story, and have also an ethical 
purpose plainly but artistically presented. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE BOOK OF RUTH 

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that 
there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth- 
lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his 
wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, 
and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the name of his two 
sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And 
they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And 
Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two 
sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab: the 
name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and 
they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion 
died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons 
and her husband. 

Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might re- 
turn from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country 
of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving 
them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where 
she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went 
on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said 
unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's 
house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the 
dead, and me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each 
of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; 
and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said unto 
her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And 
Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with 
me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may 
be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; 
for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have 
hope, if I should have a husband also to-night, and should also 
bear sons; would ye tarry for them till they were grown? 
would ye stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daugh- 
ters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of 
the Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice 
and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law ; but Ruth 
clave unto her. 

And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her 
people, and unto her gods; return thou after thy Bister in law. 
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or lo return from 
following after thee: for whither thou goest, 1 will goj and 

105 



106 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, 
and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will 
1 be buried: the Lord do so to me and more also, if aught but 
death part thee and me. When she saw that she was steadfastly 
minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. 

So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came 
to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city 
was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And 
she said unto them, Call me not Naomi (i.e. "Pleasant"), call 
me Mara (i.e. "Bitter") : for the Almighty hath dealt very bit- 
terly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me 
home again empty, why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord 
hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? 
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, 
with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they 
came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest. 

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of 
wealth, of the family of Elirnelech; and his name was Boaz. 
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the 
field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find 
grace, And she said unto her, Go, my daughter, And she 
went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and 
her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, 
who was of the kindred of Elirnelech 

And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said unto the 
reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The 
Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set 
over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that 
was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish 
damsel that came back w T ith Naomi out of the country of Moab; 
and she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reap- 
ers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even 
from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the 
house Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? 
Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide 
here fast by my maidens: let thine eyes be on the field that 
they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the 
young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou 
art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the 
young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, and bowed 
herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found 
grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, 
seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto her, 
It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy 
mother in law since the death of thine husband; and how thou 
hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy na- 
tivity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not here- 
tofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be 
given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou 
art come to trust. Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, 
my Lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou 



THE BOOK OF EUTH 107 

hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like 
unto one of thine handmaidens. And Boaz said unto her, At 
mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy 
morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he 
reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and 
left. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his 
young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and 
reproach her not: and let fall also some of the handfuls of pur- 
pose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and re- 
buke her not. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat 
out that she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of 
barley. 

And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother 
in law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought forth, and 
gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. And 
her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to- 
day? And where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take 
knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother in law with whom 
she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I 
wrought to-day is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter in 
law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kind- 
ness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, 
The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. And 
Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep 
fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. 
And Naomi said unto Euth her daughter in law, It is good, my 
daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet 
thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of 
Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat 
harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law. Then Naomi, her 
mother in law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek 
rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not 
Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold 
he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing floor. Wash thy- 
self, therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, 
and get thee down to the floor : but make not thyself known unto 
the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it 
shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where 
he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay 
thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And she 
said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do. 

And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all 
that her mother in law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and 
drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end 
of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his 
feet, and laid her down. And it came to pass at midnight, that 
the man was afraid, and turned himself: and behold, a woman 
lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she an- 
swered, I am Ruth thine handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt 
over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. And lie said. 
Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast showed 



108 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch 
as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And 
now. my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou re- 
quirest- for all the city of my people doth know that thou art 
a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near 
kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than 1. Tarry 
this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform 
unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's 
part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee then 
will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth; lie 
down until the morning. 

And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up 
before one could know another.. And he said, Let it not be 
known that a woman came into the floor, Also he said, Bring 
the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she 
held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: 
and she went into the city, And when she came to her mother 
in law, she said, Who art thou my daughter? And she told her 
all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six meas- 
ures of barley gave he me: for he said to me, Go not empty unto 
thy mother in law. Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until 
thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be 
in rest, until he hath finished the thing this day. 

Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat down there: and, be- 
hold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he 
said, Hold, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he 
turned aside, and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders 
of the city, and he said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. 
And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out 
of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our 
brother Elimelech's: and I thought to advertise thee, saying, 
Buy it before the inhabitants and before the elders of my people, 
If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it ; but if thou wilt not redeem it, 
then tell me, that I may know : for there is none to redeem it be- 
sides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. 
Then said Boaz, what day thou buyest the field of the hand 
of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife 
of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his in- 
heritance. And the kinsman said, I can not redeem it for my- 
self, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right 
to thyself; for I can not redeem it. Now this was the manner 
in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning 
changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, 
and gave it to his neighbor: and this was a testimony in Israel, 
Therefore, the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he 
drew off his shoe. 

And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are 
witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, 
and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. 
Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon have I pur- 
chased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his 



THE BOOK OF EUTH 109 

inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among 
his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses 
this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, 
said, We are witnesses. And the Lord make the woman that is 
come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did 
build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and 
be famous in Beth-lehem: and let thy house be like the house of 
Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the 
Lord shall give thee of this young woman. 

So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went 
in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. 
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which 
hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name 
may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer 
of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter 
in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven 
sons, hath borne him. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in 
her bosom and became nurse unto it. And the women her 
neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; 
and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse and the 
father of David. 

Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hez- 
ron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, and 
Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, and 
Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, 
and Jesse begat David. 

Analysis and Comment 

The stories of Ruth and Esther are idyls. The word 
idyl means a little picture, in this use of it, a little pic- 
ture of life. The primitive idyl is a picture, in either 
prose or poetry, of simple rustic life. The Book of 
Ruth is such a story, while the Book of Esther is a 
royal story of the court of a mighty king. Both are 
models of literary art with hardly a false note of atmos- 
phere or feeling. 

In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is classed 
among the Ketubim, or "Writings," which are the third 
group of the books of the canon in sacredness and value. 
It is one of the five books which are read publicly in 
the synagogues, at certain sacred seasons : The Song of 
Songs at the Passover; Ruth at Pentecost; Lamentations 
on the ninth of Ab, the day on which Jerusalem was 
destroyed; Eeelesiastes at the Feast of Tabernacles; and 
Esther at the Feast of Purim. 



110 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

The date of the Book of Ruth is a subject of much 
controversy. The language seems to indicate a date 
after the Exile. However, this is said, by some scholars, 
to be not decisive enough to weigh against other strong 
considerations. The fact that the writer speaks of the 
custom of taking off the shoe at the transfer of certain 
rights and privileges as an archaic one, would indicate 
a late date. It has been wisely suggested that it was 
written in Ezra's time; that the severity of the rules 
regarding foreign wives was not universally approved 
and some writer of the time wishing to rebuke the nar- 
row exclusiveness of Ezra, produced the story of Ruth 
to teach a lesson of liberality and toleration. 

Scene 1 (1:1-5). The Calamity. 

A famine in Judea. Elimelech and Naomi, and their 
sons Mahlon and Chilion seek refuge in Moab, a heathen 
country. Elimelech dies. The two sons marry women 
of Moab, Orpah and Ruth. After ten years both hus- 
bands die and leave the three widows in poverty and 
distress. 

Scene 2 (1:6-22). On the Road from Moab. 

Naomi turns toward the land of her fathers. Orpah 
and Ruth go with her. But Naomi said, "Turn again, 
my daughters. " The love that forsakes: "and Orpah 
kissed her mother-in-law. " The love that is steadfast: 
"but Ruth clave unto her." The classic formula of 
devotion. The arrival: "Call me not Naomi, call me 
Mara." 

Scene 3 (11:1-17). In the Barley Field. 

Ruth the gleaner: "and her hap was to light on the 
portion of the field belonging to Boaz." Boaz the boun- 
tiful: "Go not to glean in another field." "And also 
pull out some for her from the bundles." 

The meal of the reapers: "Come hither and eat of 
the bread and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she 
sat beside the reapers." Humble prosperity: "and she 
beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was an 
ephah of barley." 



THE BOOK OF EUTH 111 

Scene 4 (11:18-23). In the home of Naomi. 

Naomi sees the bountiful gleaning and rejoices and 
blesses Boaz. She counsels Euth to glean in no other 
fields. 

Scene 5 (III). At the Winnoiving Floor. 

Naomi's appeal to the Levirate custom. She gives 
minute directions to Euth. Euth goes to the threshing- 
floor. The midnight interview, Boaz accepts the re- 
sponsibility — if it shall prove to be his right. Euth 
returns home. 

Scene 6 (IV: 1-12). At the City Gate. 

The place of justice. The jury of ten. The kins- 
man's decision. Eedeeming the land by custom of the 
shoe. The marriage and the witnesses. 

Scene 7. Naomi the Happy. 

The birth of Obed. Bitterness comforted. "And 
Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and 
nursed it." The royal descendant. 

Purposes: (1) To give an account of David's an- 
cestors. (2) To enforce the obligation to marry a kins- 
man's widow. (3) As a counterblast to Ezra's crusade 
against foreign wives. But what other motive is neces- 
sary than the simple pleasure of telling a beautiful, 
idyllic, charming love story ? 

The plot of the story of Euth, as may be seen from 
the preceding analysis, is not at all complex or startling, 
being made up of incidents in the uneventful lives of 
the people of a sleepy little town of Judea, people who 
are interesting and charming, but not of the great ones 
of earth. The skill of the narrator is shown in a num- 
ber of scenes and situations: The pathetic parting 
scene closing with Euth's passionate declaration of de- 
votion; the sunny picture of the gleaners in the barley 
fields; the ideal relation between Boaz and his reapers, 
as shown by his greeting, "The Lord be with you," and 
their response, "The Lord bless thee"; the delicacy 
with which the rather unconventional incident at the 



112 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

threshing floor is treated; the scene at the city gate 
when Boaz deals fairly with the nearest of kin, but is 
plainly anxious to have the redemption fall to him; the 
happy lot of Naomi, now that bitterness has been turned 
into joy. 

The Levirate custom referred to in the fifth scene, is 
an interesting institution. The method of attracting 
the attention of Boaz may have been invented by Naomi, 
but Ruth's right to appeal to him for protection was 
based on an ancient law. A widow left without a son 
must become the wife of the husband's brother, and the 
oldest son of the union must be counted the child of 
the deceased brother. 

And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then his 
brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders and say: 
My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a 
name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's 
brother unto me. Then the elders of the city shall call him 
and speak unto him; and if he stand and say: I like not to 
take her; then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the 
presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and 
spit in his face and she shall answer and say: So shall it be 
done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house. 
And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that 
hath his shoe loosed^ (Deut. 25: 7-10.) 

This is a charming story presenting a quaint court- 
ship of the olden time. There are in it no impossible 
situations, no unspeakable emotions, no invented char- 
acters, no sickly sentiment ; all is simple, natural, almost 
perfect. It is pleasing enough to be restful; gives in- 
teresting information about Hebrew life in the time of 
the judges; presents characters that are natural and 
life-like; and presents also the moral forces of life so 
as to attract the reader to the beautiful and the good. 
Besides these things it gives an account of David's an- 
cestors, enforces the obligation to marry a kinsman's 
widow, and above and beyond all these, teaches the same 
lesson of tolerance that is taught so eloquently in the 
Book of Jonah. Such a book is immortal; its charm 
increases as time goes on. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE BOOK OP ESTHER 

The scene of the story is laid in Shushan, the palace, 
in the city of Susa, the Persian capital, the ancient 
Elam, a few hundred miles north of the Persian Gulf — 
one of the oldest seats of civilization in the world. The 
time is about 482 years before Christ. 

The story opens with a great feast lasting 180 days, 
which Ahasuerus gives to the princes and officers of the 
one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of his king- 
dom. At the end of the long feast he gives a special 
feast of seven days, and to it are invited only his nobles 
and officers. On the last day of the seven days' feast 
he orders his seven eunuchs to bring before him Queen 
Vashti, unveiled, that his drunken companions may ad- 
mire her beauty. With wise, womanly courage she 
refuses to obey the tyrannical summons, which, accord- 
ing to eastern etiquette would violate all sense of pro- 
priety and modesty. The courtiers regard Vashti 's re- 
fusal with consternation. They fear that the wrath of 
the king will be turned against them, and they seek 
immediate means to please and pacify him. They first 
urge him to depose Vashti ; and the order is accordingly 
issued. They then persuade him to the opinion that 
the queen in her disobedience has not so much wronged 
him as she has wronged all the princes and officers of 
the kingdom. "For," they declare, "this deed of the 
queen will surely come to be known in all the provinces 
unto all the women; and when it is known that queen 
Vashti refused to come before the king at his command, 
what hope can there be that the wives throughout the 
great kingdom will continue to be respectfully obedient 
to their husbands?" So the king, forgetting for the 
time his discomfiture, sends letters to all the provinces, 

113 



114 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

proclaiming that the man is the head of the household 
and that this new idea of the independence of woman, 
of the right of woman to question the authority of the 
husband to rule the household, should be crushed at 
once. It was decreed that all wives everywhere should 
give to their husbands honor and obedience — both to 
great and small — and that the proclamation should be 
written among the laws of the Medes and Persians that 
it might not be altered. 

Afterwards when the wrath of King Ahasuerus has 
subsided and his thoughts turn to the dethroned Vashti, 
his officers who advised him to depose the queen seek 
security for themselves in a plan to choose a new queen. 
They suggest that there be gathered at the palace fair 
young virgins from every province of the kingdom and 
that the maiden who shall please the king most shall 
be made queen instead of Vashti. The plan pleases the 
king and the maidens are assembled. Mordecai, an at- 
tendant at the court, a Jew, places his cousin Esther 
among the candidates for the king's favor, and so beau- 
tiful and charming is she that the king chooses her from 
among the great company of maidens as being most 
worthy to sit on the throne as queen of the realm. 
Soon after the crowning of Esther, Mordecai discovers 
a conspiracy against the life of the king and makes it 
known to Esther; she informs the king and the con- 
spirators are arrested and put to death, and a record 
of the faithful service of Esther and Mordecai is made 
in the chronicles of the court. 

Haman, the villain of the story, is now introduced. 
He is a cold, shrewd, cunning politician who has worked 
his way close up to the throne and, as prime minister, 
is the most influential man in the kingdom. He is not 
a man of noble blood, but the king issues an order that 
all men shall nevertheless show him the reverence due 
to his station. All the courtiers pay deference to him 
except one, Mordecai, who refuses to bow down before 
him. Haman determines to be revenged for Mordecai 's 
disrespect. But he will not be satisfied with revenge 
upon Mordecai alone. He will humble the whole hated 
race to which Mordecai belongs. Accordingly he ac- 



THE BOOK OF ESTHER 115 

cuses the Jews in the kingdom of disloyalty to the king 
and asks for authority to put them all to death. So 
artfully does he put his proposal before the king that 
the king at once commits the whole matter into his hands, 
gives him the royal signet ring that he may send out de- 
crees with full authority, and refuses even to accept the 
large sum of money which Haman promises to pay into 
the treasury when the property of the condemned Jews 
is confiscated. 

Mordecai learns of the plan to destroy his people, but 
is helpless to avert the coming danger. He sends a copy 
of the proclamation to Esther, with the urgent request 
that she go before the king and protest against the 
slaughter of her people. She replies, ' ' I can do nothing ; 
for thirty days the king has not called me before him; 
I am no longer in favor with the king; I can do noth- 
ing." But with that sublime faith characteristic of the 
Hebrew people all through the ages, Mordecai returns 
answer, "Who knows but that you have come to the 
kingdom for such a time as this?" And heroically 
Esther replies, "I will go into the presence of the king, 
and if I perish, I perish." 

Esther lays her plans with womanly skill and womanly 
courage. She fasts three days and asks her people in the 
palace and the city to fast with her. At the end of that 
time she prepares to present her petition to the king. 
What a thrilling moment it is! The courtiers stand 
aghast at the audacity of a woman who would go from 
the harem unasked into the presence of the king. With 
beating heart and blushing face she rushes through the 
throng and throws herself at the king's feet. Is it 
death or life ? If the king does not hold out to her his 
golden scepter, it is death. There is a pause and 
Ahasuerus holds out his scepter. "What is your peti- 
tion?" he asks, "and I will grant it even to the half of 
my kingdom." She merely begs that he honor her by 
coming to a banquet of wine that she has prepared for 
him, and requests that he bring Haman with him. 

They sit down to the banquet of wine. The king per- 
ceives that there is something weighing on Esther's mind. 
' ' What wilt thou have ? " he asks, ' ' and it is granted thee 



116 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

even before thou dost ask it." Some providence with- 
holds her from making known her request. The time is 
not yet ripe. She replies, ' ' I only ask that we three may 
banquet together again to-morrow; then I will make 
known my petition. " 

Haman goes home from the banquet swelling with a 
sense of his importance : ' ' Then went Haman forth that 
day joyful and with a glad heart." When he reaches 
his home he can contain himself no longer, but begins to 
boast to Zeresh his wife and to his friends, of his riches, 
his favor with the king, his promotion over the princes, 
and ends with: "Yea, Esther, the queen, did let no 
man come in with the king unto the banquet that she 
prepared but myself! And to-morrow am I invited 
unto her also with the king!" Then the thought of 
Mordecai 's refusal to bow down before him recurs to him, 
his vindictiveness overcomes his exultation, and he 
whines to his wife: "Yet all this availeth me nothing 
as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the gate ! ' ' 
Then Zeresh suggests that he build a gallows fifty 
cubits high and on the morrow ask the king ? s permission 
to hang Mordecai on it. The suggestion pleases Haman. 
He sets the carpenters to work to build the gallows and 
doubtless falls asleep to the music of their hammers. 

That night sleep flees from the eyes of the king. 
Doubtless the strange behavior of Esther disturbs him. 
He commands the attendants to read to him. They read 
the court records and providentially light on the part of 
the record which tells how the life of the king has been 
saved through the vigilance of Mordecai. "What has 
been done for Mordecai ? ? ' asks the king. ' ' There is no 
record of any reward," replies the reader. Then the 
king falls asleep and when he wakes in the morning his 
first words are, "What shall be done for him whom the 
king delighteth to honor?" Just then Haman comes 
into the presence of the king to make his request. He 
hears the words of the king and thinks that he is plan- 
ning some new honors for his prime minister. So he 
audaciously proposes that the man whom the king de- 
lighteth to honor shall be set on the king's horse, shall 
wear the royal crown and robe, and shall be conducted 



THE BOOK OF ESTHEE 117 

through the city by the chief nobleman of the court, who 
shall cry everywhere: "Thus doth King Ahasuerus to 
him whom the king delighteth to honor." "Well said, 
counsellor/' cries the king, "Mordecai the Jew, is the 
man whom I delight to honor; and what nobleman so 
well suited to lead the horse as Haman?" We are left 
to imagine the malice and deep humiliation with which 
Haman carries out the king's command. It is a strik- 
ing example of that 

" Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, 
And falls on the other" — 

This is the turning point in Hainan's career. The 
story writer says: "And Mordecai came again to the 
king's gate, but Haman hasted to his own house mourn- 
ing and having his head covered." Haman tells his 
wife and friends what has befallen him, and she gives 
him cold comfort by predicting that his fall is near. 
While they are talking the king's chamberlain comes to 
conduct Haman to that second banquet of which he had 
boasted so much. He does not go with a joyful step ; he 
is in no mood for feasting now. But his presence at the 
little banquet is necessary ; the play could not go on with- 
out him. Doubtless he did not add much to the gayety 
of the occasion. Queen Esther by means of her glori- 
ous beauty, charming manner, and tactful way of treat- 
ing the king, has completely won him so that he will do 
anything that she wishes. He asks her what her peti- 
tion is and declares that he will grant it, even to giving 
the half of his kingdom. She throws herself at his feet 
and with all the pent-up anguish of her heart cries out, 
"My lord, the king, some one has devised my death, and 
the death of my people; protect me, protect them!" 
And the king, who has forgotten his careless gift to 
Haman of the lives of the Jewish people, forgotten the 
ring, the seal, the decree, answers, "Who has dared to 
do this?" With flashing eyes she turns to Haman, the 
court favorite, "This is the man! This wicked Haman 
is seeking my life and the life of my people!" 

It is the crisis in Hainan's life. His doom is sealed. 
The king in great wrath goes out and Haman flings 



118 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

himself upon the queen's couch to plead for mercy. 
The king comes back and looking upon him there cries, 
"What, will he insult the queen in my very presence?" 
Then one of the courtiers speaks: "Behold also the 
gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for 
Mordecai who had spoken good of the king; it standeth 
in the house of Haman." "Hang him! hang him on 
it!" commands the King. Short, sharp, terrible was 
Haman 's fate. He fell like Satan — from heaven to the 
pit. 

But Esther's work is not yet finished. The wicked 
decree of Haman 's making is still in force and according 
to the laws of the land no order once sent out can ever 
be recalled ; but she induces the king to issue a counter 
decree authorizing the Jews to defend themselves when 
attacked under the authority of the first proclamation. 

Mordecai is made prime minister in the place of 
Haman, and so wisely does he manage the affairs of state 
that the Jews are soon in great favor in the kingdom. 
Fear falls on the enemies of the Jews because of the 
power of Mordecai, and when the day set for the slaugh- 
ter of the Jews comes, those condemned to death defend 
themselves so vigorously that 75,000 of the Jews' enemies 
are slain. Then by order of Esther and Mordecai there 
is established on the anniversary of the day which had 
been turned from sorrow to gladness, a great feast called 
Purim, named for Pur, the lot which providentially 
fixed the day of Haman 's intended slaughter at a time 
when the Jews could provide for their defense. This 
anniversary is observed with joy and gladness to this 
day by all Jews throughout the world. 

Analysis and Comment 

The Book of Esther is in order, the last of the histori- 
cal books of the Bible. It is here presented as a drama 
although it does not have the regular dramatic form. It 
has all the interest of a stirring tragedy and the action 
proceeds very much as in regular drama. The date of 
the book is about 470 B. C. 

The chief characters are as follows: 



THE BOOK OP ESTHER 119 

Ahasuerus, who is recognized as being the Xerxes of 
history, who, was vainglorious, cowardly, luxurious pu- 
sillanimous, licentious, and bloodthirsty. 

Mordecai, a Jew, a man of ability, honesty, upright- 
ness, and courage. 

Esther, the beautiful heroine of the play, the cousin 
and adopted daughter of Mordecai, as lovely in charac- 
ter as she was in person. 

Haman, a man of low parentage, a scheming poli- 
tician, haughty, vindictive, shrewd, and unscrupulous. 

Vashti, the queen of whom we know but little except 
that she showed good sense and modesty in refusing to 
come into the presence of the drunken revellers. 

The story has the five acts found in the classic drama 
with a brief epilogue : 

Act 1. Esther's elevation to the throne (chaps. I-II). 

Act 2. Haman 's plot and Esther's trouble (III-IV). 

Act 3. Esther's courage and Haman ? s fall (V-VI- 
VII). 

Act. 4. Esther's undoing of Haman 's plot and Morde- 
cai 's elevation to Haman 's place (VIII). 

Act. 5. Esther's deliverance of her people and the in- 
stitution of Purim (IX). 

Epilogue: The glory of Ahasuerus and the greatness 
of Modecai (X). 

Act I. Esther's Elevation to the Throne. 

Scene 1. (1:1-9) The great feast of 180 days. The 
special feast of seven days. The elaborate preparations. 
The rule of drinking. 

Scene 2. (10-22) The last day of the feast. Vashti 
called. Her refusal. The king's question. Memucan's 
suggestion. The deposing of Vashti. The king's decree. 

Scene 3. (11:1-18) The advice of the king's servants 
concerning a new queen. The gathering of the maidens. 
Esther is among them. She is the most charming of all 
and is chosen queen. The ceremony of her crowning 
and her feast. 

Scene 4. (21-23) Bigthan and Teresh plot against the 



120 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

life of the king. Mordecai makes known the plot to 
Esther and she warns the king. The two plotters are 
hanged. 

Act. II. Hainan's Plot and Esther's Trouble. 

Scene 1. (Ill: 1-6) Promotion of Haman. Decree de- 
manding obeisance to Haman. Mordecai refuses to bow 
— looks the other way. Mordecai is warned. Haman 
is informed of Mordecai 's refusal to honor him. He 
plans revenge against the whole Hebrew race. 

Scene 2. (8-11) Haman goes before the king and 
makes his request for the lives of the Jews and promises 
10,000 talents for the kings treasury. The king refuses 
the money, but gives Haman full power. The king's 
scribes send out the decree "to destroy, to kill, and to 
cause to perish " all the Jews. 

Scene 3. (7) The casting of the lots. The lots will 
not fix a near date. The massacre is put off eleven 
months. 

Scene 4. (IV: 1-17) Mordecai puts on sackcloth and 
ashes and mourns. Esther's message to him. His mes- 
sage in turn. Esther's reply — she is powerless to do 
anything. Mordecai 's persistence — "who knoweth 
whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a 
time as this?" Esther's courageous resolve. 

Act III. Esther's Courage and Raman's Fall. 

Scene 1. (V:l-5) Esther's dramatic appeal to the 
king. The king holds out the golden scepter. Esther 
invites him to a banquet and asks that Haman may 
come, too. 

Scene 2. (6-8) The banquet. Esther pleases the king. 
He asks her to make known her wish. She defers her 
plea to the morrow, and invites him and Haman to an- 
other banquet. 

Scene 3. (9-14) Hainan's elation. He passes Mor- 
decai and is filled with wrath. He boasts to his wife 
and his friends. Shows his anger against Mordecai. 
His wife suggests a gallows, a request of the king, and 
the hanging of Mordecai. Haman has the gallows built. 

Scene 4. (VI: 1-3) The sleepless king. The court rec- 



THE BOOK OF ESTHER 121 

ords are read. The record shows that Mordecai had 
saved the life of the king against two conspirators. 
"What honor and dignity hath been bestowed on Mor- 
decai for this?" "There is nothing done for him." 
The king falls asleep. 

Scene 5. (4-10) " Who is in the court ?" asks the king 
awaking. Haman is waiting at the door to make his 
request for the head of Mordecai. Haman comes in. 
"What shall be done unto the man whom the king 
delights to honor?" asks the king of Haman. Haman 
thinking himself the man, suggests a most signal honor. 
i ' Mordecai is the man, ' ' cries the king. 

Scene 6. (11-14) The procession through the streets. 
Mordecai returns in humility to his post. Haman goes 
to his home "mourning and having his head covered." 
The chamberlain comes to hasten him to the banquet. 
He is not now so anxious to go. 

Scene 7. (VII: 1-10) The second banquet. Esther 
has completely won the king. He is willing to grant 
any request from her. With dramatic intensity she ac- 
cuses Haman, the Jew's arch enemy, of plotting the 
death of her people. The king is enraged against Haman 
and condemns him to death at once. He is hanged on 
the gallows prepared for Mordecai. 

Act. IV. Esther's Undoing of Haman 9 s Wrong and 
Mordecai's Elevation to the Premiership. 

Scene 1. (VIII: 1-2) Hainan's house given to Esther. 
Mordecai made prime minister. 

Scene 2. (3-17) Esther again a suppliant at the feet 
of the king. She asks for a reversal of the decree 
against the Jew r s. It can not be repealed. But a coun- 
ter decree is sent out to all the 127 provinces of the 
kingdom. Mordecai now appears clothed in his gorgeous 
robes of state "and the city of Shushan rejoiced and 
was glad." 

Act V. Esther's Deliverance of II cr People and the 
Institution of Purim. 
Scene 1. (IX: 1-11) The thirteenth day of the month 
of Adar has come. There is bloody strife throughout the 



122 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

kingdom. Seventy-five thousand of the Jews' enemies 
are slain; 500 in the palace; and Hainan's ten sons. 

Scene 2. (12-16) Esther again appears before the 
king. She asks for a second day of slaughter in Shu- 
shan. The plea is granted. On the 14th 300 more 
people are killed, and the bodies of Hainan's ten sons 
are hanged on the gallows. 

Scene 3. (17-32) The Jews name the days of slaugh- 
ter "Purim" and institute a memorial feast. Esther 
and Mordecai send orders to all the Jews of the king- 
dom to observe the days of Purim — the 14th and 15th 
of the month of Adar. 

Epilogue. The Glory of Ahasuerus and the Greatness 
of Mordecai. 
King Ahasuerus lays a tribute on the land and on 
the isles of the sea ; and Mordecai is next unto the king 
and great among the Jews (X: 1-3). 

Lessons: 

1. The presence of an overruling providence: The 
result of the lots. The reading of the court records. 
Esther's elevation to the throne. 

2. "When the righteous are in authority the people 
rejoice (VIII: 15), but when the wicked beareth rule the 
people mourn (111:15)." 

3. Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit 
before a fall. 

4. Courage and faithfulness will win. Examples — 
both Esther and Mordecai. 

5. There is a large measure of retribution in this 
world. The relation and fate of Haman and Mordecai 
present a good illustration of poetic justice. 

6. God cares for his children individually. The name 
of God is not in the book but his presence is there. 

The story of Esther is told with noteworthy art and 
dramatic power. The characters are well delineated, set 
forth by action and not by analysis. The plot is cleverly 
constructed. The introduction, of two chapters, pre- 
sents the setting and the general situation, and disposes 
of Vashti and places Esther on the throne. The rising 



THE BOOK OF ESTHER 123 

action or entanglement begins with the embroilment of 
Mordecai and Haman and by a succession of thrilling in- 
cidents is carried to a climax in the sentence of death 
pronounced against Haman. The events following the 
climax are important in the story but are on a much lower 
plane of interest. 

The movement of the plot from the issuing of Haman 's 
decree to the climax is skilfully managed. The incidents 
are all big with importance and some of them thrill- 
ingly dramatic. In a spirit of self-sacrifice, Esther 
ventures her life for her people by intruding into the 
audience chamber of the king. She requests only that 
the king and his minister come to a banquet in the 
queen's apartments. At the banquet Esther so charms 
the king that she may have her wish for the asking, but 
she postpones the issue. 

The delay gives birth to two important plans, both 
affecting Mordecai: one by the king to honor him, the 
other by Haman to hang him. When Haman visits 
the king early in the morning to ask for the life of 
Mordecai, he receives an order to confer a signal honor 
upon him. Thus does the writer indicate the changing 
fortunes of the two protagonists. 

The scene of the second banquet is highly dramatic. 
Esther pleads for her life, "for we are sold, I and my 
people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish." 
"Who is he, and where is he that durst presume in his 
heart to do so?" angrily asks the king. The climax 
comes in the bitterly accusing words of Esther: "The 
adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!" There 
are few stories with better plots and more thrilling 
incidents. 



CHAPTER X 

THE BOOK OF JONAH 

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Am- 
mittai saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry 
against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But 
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the 
Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to 
Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, 
to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 

But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there 
was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be 
broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man 
unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship 
into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down 
into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest 
thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will 
think upon us, that we perish not. 

And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast 
lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is come upon 
us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said 
they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil 
is upon us ? What is thine occupation ? and whence comest thou ? 
what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said 
unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of 
heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were 
the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him, Why hast thou 
done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of 
the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, 
what shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? 
for the sea wrought and was tempestuous. And he said unto 
them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the 
sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great 
tempest is upon you. 

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but 
they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous 
against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, 
We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for 
this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O 
Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and 
cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from her 

124 



THE BOOK OF JONAH 125 

raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered 
a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. 

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. 
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three 
nights. 



And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon 
the dry land. 

And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, 
saying, Arise,, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto 
it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose and went unto 
Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was 
an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah 
began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and 
said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 

So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast, 
and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the 
least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and 
he arose from his throne, and he laid aside his robe from him, 
and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he 
caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by 
the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man 
nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor 
drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, 
and cry mightily unto God, yea, let them turn every one from 
his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 
Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from 
his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, 
that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the 
evil that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it 
not. 

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 
And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was 
not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore 
I fled before unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious 
God and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and 
repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I 
beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than 
to live. 

Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah 
went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and 
there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till 
he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God 
prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it 
might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. 
So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared 
a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the 
gourd that it withered. 

And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God pre- 
pared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head 
of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, 



126 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

it is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, 
Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do 
well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou 
hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, 
neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished 
in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, 
wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that can not 
discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also 
much cattle? 

Analysis and Comment 

Although the book of Jonah is classed among the books 
of the Minor Prophets, it does not contain prophecies, 
but is an anonymous narrative. The title does not mean 
that Jonah is the author but the subject of the book. Its 
date is about 350 b. c. The Jonah of the book is doubt- 
less Jonah ben Amittai, who prophesied the deliverance 
of Israel by Jeroboam II. (2 Kings XIV: 23-27). 

(1). The call: Jonah receives a call to go to Nine- 
veh to rebuke it for its wickedness. He refuses to go 
and takes ship at Joppa to flee to Tarshish. 

(2). The tempest. The sea rages. The sailors fear 
for their lives. The gods are angry and must be ap- 
peased. Jonah it is who has provoked them to send the 
storm. He is cast into the sea and there is a great calm. 

(3). The deliverance: A great fish swallows Jonah 
and after three days casts him forth upon the dry land 
uninjured. 

(4). The warning: Jonah goes about the city of 
Nineveh crying, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be 
overthrown." The conscience of the people responds to 
the warning. A fast is proclaimed. The king sits in 
ashes. The very cattle wear penitential sack cloth. God 
hears the cry for mercy and saves the city. 

(5). Jonah's anger: Jonah is pitiless, nay, very 
angry. He says that his mission has been a failure. 
He sits down outside the city to sulk. He is taught the 
lesson of pity by the incident of the gourd vine. He is 
asked as to the comparative value of the gourd vine and 
the six score thousand little ones of Nineveh. There is 
no answer to the question. If he is not convinced, he is 
silenced. 



THE BOOK OF JONAH 127 

The lessons: 

(1). Jehovah is the God of the whole world; and 
Jonah's errand was in the spirit of Christian missions 
even in those far away days, and in spite of the bitter- 
ness of the messenger. 

(2). All God's threatenings of penalty are condi- 
tional. He is a gracious God, slow to anger and plen- 
teous in mercy. 

(3). God's mercy is wider than Israel. "There's a 
wideness in God's mercy Like the wideness of the sea." 

(4). The innocent little ones must not suffer for the 
sins of those who can discern their right hand from their 
left. 

(5). Love toward God means love toward men. 

(6). God's mercy and kindness extend even to our 
humbler fellow creatures — the dumb brutes. 

" He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small, 
For the dear God who loveth us, 
He made and loveth all." 

Because of the one startling incident the book of Jonah 
seems to have taken hold of the imagination of the people 
of both ancient and modern days. The incredulous 
pagan of the olden time ridiculed the story of Jonah's 
escape from the sea as does the skeptic of to-day. But 
the pagan and the skeptic are not the only ones who 
miss the real meaning of the book; there are many who 
"pore over the whale and forget God." 

There are three views of the book held by those who 
would interpret it: (1) The whole story is literally true 
history; (2) It is an imaginative story with definite les- 
sons; (3) The whole story including the incident of the 
whale is symbolical: Jonah represents rebellious Judah 
and the whale symbolizes Babylon, the monster that 
swallowed the people of Judah and later disgorged them 
and sent them back to Jerusalem. 

As a piece of literature this book has a very compact 
structure. The movement is swift, and there are no di- 
gressions except the psalm of the second chapter, and 
it is thought to be no part of the story in its first form. 



128 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

The character of Jonah is strongly and clearly drawn as 
a narrow, bigoted Jew, wayward, wilful, intolerant, and 
rebellious. The spectacular incidents make a story of 
adventure as unusual as the spirit and teaching are new 
and startling. For the spirit of the book is very dif- 
ferent from that of Esther ; the one shows sympathy for 
the Gentiles, the other is bitterly hostile towards them ; 
the one is imbued with the old spirit of cruel destructive- 
ness, the other with the new spirit of mercy. Jonah, if 
he felt as the average Jew of that day, must have been 
darkly puzzled by the suggestion of special mercy to 
children; for it was taken for granted in those early 
days that children must suffer for the sins of their 
parents. And he must have been struck dumb with 
amazement when he is told that the lives of the cattle 
also are to be taken into consideration when the fate of 
the city is passed upon. There is no other book in the 
Old Testament that presents such a vision of the divine 
gentleness. 

Professor C. H. Cornill says : "I have read the Book of 
Jonah at least a hundred times, and I will publicly avow, 
for I am not ashamed of my weakness that I can not 
even now take up this marvelous book, nay nor even 
speak of it, without the tears rising to my eyes, and my 
heart beating high. This apparently trivial book is 
one of the deepest and grandest that was ever written, 
and I should like to say to every one who approaches it, 
1 Take off thy shoes, for the place whereon thou standest 
is holy ground.' " 



OLD TESTAMENT POETEY 



CHAPTER XI 

CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 

From the very dawn of history poetry has been indis- 
solubly connected with the highest instincts of the race. 
It has been made the record of the profoundest convic- 
tions of men, of their dearest hopes, their divinest 
dreams. Men have believed in many ages that the poet 
is inspired, that he is the speaker of divine oracles. How 
appropriate, then, that the writers of this great Book 
should often speak in poetry, that those choice spirits of 
the human race who have been permitted to climb to the 
very mountain tops of truth where God's sunlight is not 
obstructed nor dimmed by the mists and shadows of the 
earth-valleys, should give that truth to us in the most 
elevated and inspiring form of speech. 

The body of Hebrew poetry found in the Bible has 
many noble qualities. In the first place it is cosmopoli- 
tan in spirit. We know that the Hebrews were exclu- 
sive and in many ways narrow. From their customs and 
many of their beliefs, we should little expect to find 
in their poetry a sympathy wider than their country, 
a spirit kinder than their creed; but we do find them. 
It is said that the poetry of the Bible loses less in trans- 
lation into other languages than any other body of 
poetry whatsoever. It is because it deals with things 
that are universally true, because it reaches those deep 
things that are in the heart of humanity everywhere. 

Again, the Bible poetry is full of imaginative power. 
The poet here does indeed cast his eye from earth to 
heaven and from heaven to earth, and body forth forms 
of things unknown more brilliantly than ever poet did 
in any other age. He makes the giant hills to skip and 
clap their hands ; he makes Jehovah ride upon the wings 

131 



132 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

of the wind; causes the earth to tremble at the sound 
of his voice or the hills to smoke at his touch. 

To these qualities may be added the grace of sim- 
plicity. The grandest ideas are set forth so simply and 
plainly that they are brought home to the mind and 
heart of every reader who wishes to understand. The 
psalms are suited to men of all capacities and degrees 
of culture. They are popular and yet elevating, clear 
and yet profound, easily comprehended and yet inex- 
haustibly deep. 

But perhaps the poetic beauty in which the Bible most 
excels is in its description of the world around us. Here 
we find the brightest and most vivacious landscape, the 
happiest, most joyous view of things. The poet makes 
the whole realm of nature express his thought and feel- 
ing. The whole universe becomes one vast chorus of 
living things. The Bible landscape needs no dryads to 
people its woodlands, no oreads to skip over its moun- 
tains, no naiads to give mirth to its waters or music to 
its streams. A higher animation fills them; for every 
chiming brook and fluttering spray, every thunder-tone 
and bird-note, every zephyr and every blessed sound is 
a note in God's anthem. 

But the most characteristic feature of Bible poetry is 
its intense theism. Job, the great epic, presents not to 
us the deeds of a great hero, but shows us a suffering 
hero in agony, wondering at and studying out God's 
way in the world. The lyrics, the odes, the anthems 
are, with few exceptions, not love songs, not warrior 
songs, but songs of praise to God, God the Father, God 
the everlasting King. To the poet Jehovah is the maker 
and preserver of all things. He shines in the firma- 
ment ; he rides on the thunderstorm, he clothes the lilies ; 
he feeds the ravens and the young lions, and the cattle 
on a thousand hills ; he gives rain and fruitful seasons ; 
he is the everlasting shield, the comfort and joy of 
Israel. 

The most general law of poetic form is embodied in 
the principles of rhythm. We of the western countries 
are accustomed to rhythm which is almost purely syl- 
labic. Of syllabic rhythm there are two sorts, the rhythm 



OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 133 

of accent and the rhythm of quantity. The first pre- 
vails in the modern tongues, the latter regulates ancient 
poetry. That is, in English, for example, we measure 
the rhythm by a regular recurring stress of syllables, as, 

"Flow gently, sweet Af'ton, among thy green braes; 
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise." 

In Latin and Greek poetry rhythm is shown by giving 
more time to regularly recurring syllables. Innumer- 
able attempts to find in Hebrew poetry one or the other 
of these forms of rhythm have been unsuccessful. And 
yet this poetry has a rhythm of its own, the measured 
rise and fall of feeling and utterance. This sort of 
rhythm with parallelism of thought and phrase are the 
plainest characteristics of Hebrew poetry. The ulti- 
mate unit consists of two lines or members embodying 
two answering thoughts. The most common forms of 
parallelism are, the synonymous, the antithetic, and the 
synthetic. In the first kind of parallelism the second 
line enforces the thought of the first by repeating it in 
a slightly varied form ; as, 

"Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; 
And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon." 

In the antithetic form the second line emphasizes the 
first by presenting a contrasted thought; as, 

"A wise son maketh a glad father, 
But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. 

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, 
But the way of the wicked shall perish." 

In the synthetic form the second line supplements the 
first by adding a new thought ; as, 

"Answer not a fool according to his folly, 
Lest thou also be like him. 

As a bird that wandereth from her nest, 
So is a man that wandereth from his place." 

The body of poetry in the Old Testament is consid- 
erable. It embraces a great variety of scattered poems 

and fragments, and five complete books, Job, the Psalms, 



134 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

Proverbs, the Song of Songs, and the Book oFLamenta- 
tions. 

The scattered poems and fragments are lyric in form 
and seem to be quotations from older books of lyric 
poetry. They include such interesting poems as the 
sword-song of Lamech, the song of the well, Deborah's 
song, the predictions of Balaam, the blessings of Jacob, 
the song of Moses at the Red Sea, and the dirge of David 
over Saul and Jonathan. The oldest specimen of lyric 
poetry is the song of Lamech to his two wives, found in 
the fourth chapter of Genesis. It is called the sword- 
song because it is supposed to celebrate the invention of 
weapons of iron and brass by Tubal-Cain, the son of 
Lamech. The song of Moses at the Red Sea, sung in 
honor of the overthrow of Pharoah's host, is great in 
its simplicity and sublimity. It has been counted the 
oldest specimen of the patriotic ode. The elegy of 
David on the death of Saul and Jonathan, found in the 
first chapter of Second Samuel is full of strength, pathos, 
grief, and tenderness. 

The greater poems of the Bible named above make a 
remarkable body of poetry. The Book of Job is the 
greatest work of Hebrew literature and one of the great- 
est poems of the world 's literature. The Song of Songs 
is a love song with a wholesome lesson of purity and 
fidelity. The Psalms are lyrics of devotion, a book of 
one hundred and fifty hymns divided into five parts or 
books. Among these psalms are many that will always 
hold their place among the great poems of the world. 
There are further studies of these three books in other 
chapters of this volume. 

The Book of Proverbs is a book of maxims and pre- 
cepts which has no equal anywhere in literature. There 
are among them maxims which outshine the best ethical 
precepts of the sages of Greece, or Rome or Egypt or 
India or China. The Book of Lamentations consists of 
five poems, each chapter being a complete poem. The 
first four are in the Hebrew elegiac meter and are 
alphabetic acrostics. The whole five lament the fall of 
Jerusalem in varied imagery, most of which is graphic 
and moving. 



OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 135 



David's Lament 

David's lament over the death of Saul and Jonathan 
is a beautiful elegy. The appeal to the imagination is 
definite, vivid, and clear, and the images are all simple 
and striking. The feeling expressed is simple, natural, 
and strong. The poem is a lyric of deep and unaffected 
grief, a spontaneous outburst from a great heart bur- 
dened with sorrow for the loss of a most noble and un- 
selfish friend, and for the death of one who has done the 
poet grievous wrong, but who is nevertheless the Lord 's 
anointed. 

The first stanza of the poem is a cry of grief for the 
disastrous defeat of the armies of Israel : 

"Thy glory, O Israel, 
Is slain upon thy high places! 
How are the mighty fallen!" 

The second stanza expresses shame at the thought that 
the Philistines may know of the defeat of the Israelites 
and exult in their humiliation: 

"Tell it not in Gath, 
Publish it not in the streets of Askelon; 
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph." 

The mountains, after the classic manner, are reproached 
for their part in the tragedy : 

"Ye mountains of Gilboa, 
Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, 
Neither fields of offerings; 

For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, 
The shield of Saul as if he had not been anointed with oil." 

High praise for the valor and prowess of Saul and Jona- 
than: 

"From the blood of the slain, 
From the fat of the mighty, 
The bow of Jonathan turned not back, 
And the sword of Saul returned not empty." 

The two dauntless warriors had gentle and engaging 
qualities, and a most intrepid spirit: 



136 MASTEEING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

"Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
And in their death they were not divided; 
They were swifter than eagles, 
They were stronger than lions." 

A particular eulogy on Saul : 

"Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, 
Who clothed you in scarlet delicately, 
Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel." 

The refrain, expressing the greatness of the calamity : 

"How are the mighty fallen 
In the midst of the battle! 
O Jonathan, 
Slain upon thy high places!" 

Eulogy on Jonathan with an expression of love and 
personal loss : 

"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: 
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me: 
Thy love to me was wonderful, 
Passing the love of women." 

The poem closes with the refrain — with a slight varia- 
tion : 

"How are the mighty fallen 
And the weapons of war perished!" 



The Song of Deborah 

The Song of Deborah, of the fifth chapter of Judges, 
is one of the few relics of the splendid lyric poetry that 
must have been found in the Book of the Wars of the 
Lord and the Book of Jasher. There is some confusion 
of text in the central part of the poem, yet all but a few 
of the ninety-four lines are coherent, lively, and pic- 
turesque. 

The story of the decisive victory of the Israelites 
under Deborah and Barak over the Canaanites under 
Sisera, is first told in prose in chapter four of the Book 
of Judges. Sisera had a large army and many chariots. 
Against the chariots the Israelites could not hope to pre- 
vail except by a sudden and unexpected attack. To 
carry out this plan, Barak secretly assembled his forces 



OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 137 

on the heights of Kedesh. But the traitor Heber the 
Kenite, warned Sisera of Barak's plan of battle, and 
the Canaanite army was drawn up on the plains of 
Esdraelon to meet the attack. The Israelites would 
have been hopelessly defeated except for divine inter- 
vention. A great thunderstorm with rain burst upon 
the plains where Sisera had expected to maneuver his 
nine hundred chariots, converted it into a mass of mud 
in which the horses and chariots floundered helplessly. 
The river Kishon was swollen with the sudden down- 
pour of rain and swept away multitudes of the soldiers 
of Sisera, while the remainder were put to the sword by 
the victorious Israelites. Sisera alone escaped from the 
battlefield and sought refuge in the tent of Heber where 
he was kindly received by Jael the wife of Heber. She 
was still loyal to her old friends the Israelites and re- 
solved to do a deed that would offset the treachery of 
her husband. Accordingly while Sisera slept the sleep 
of exhaustion, she seized a tent spike and with a ham- 
mer drove it through his head. "So God subdued on 
that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children 
of Israel." 

For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, 

For that the people offered themselves willingly, 

Bless ye Jehovah, 

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; 

I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah, 

I will sing praises to Jehovah, the God of Israel. 

Lord, when thou wentest forth out of Seir, 

When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, 

The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, 

The clouds also dropped water, 

The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord, 

Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel. 

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, 

In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, 

And the travelers walked through by-ways. 

The inhabitants of the villages ceased; they ceased in Israel, 

Until that thou Deborah arose, thou arose a mother in Israel. 

They chose new gods; 

Then was war in the gates: 

Was there a shield or spear seen 

Among forty thousand in Israel? 



138 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

My heart is toward the governors of Israel, 

That offered themselves willingly among the people. 

Bless ye the Lord. 

Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses, 

Ye that sit upon carpets, 

Ye too that but walk by the way. 

Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, 

There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, 

Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. 

Then came down to the gates the people of the Lord. 

Awake, awake, Deborah; 

Awake, awake, utter a song: 

Arise. Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam. 

Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people, 

Jehovah came down for me against the mighty. 

Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek; 

After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; 

Out of Machir came down governors, 

And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff. 

And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; 

As was Issachar so was Barak; 

Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. 

By the watercourses of Eeuben were there great resolves of 

heart. 
Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds 
To hear the pipings of the flock? 
At the watercourses of Reuben there were great searchings of 

heart. 
Gilead abode beyond Jordan; 
And why did Dan remain in ships? 
Asher sat still at the shore of the sea, 
And abode by his creeks. 

Zebulun were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death. 
And Xaphtali upon the high places of the field. 

The kings came and fought; 

Then fought the kings of Canaan, 

In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; 

They took no gain of money. 

They fought from heaven, 

The stars in their courses fought against Sisera. 

The river Ki short swept them away, 

That ancient river, the river Kishon. 

O my soul, march on with strength! 

Then did the horsehoofs stamp. 

By reason of the prancings. the prancings of their mighty ones. 

Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, 

Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; 

Because they came not to the help of the Lord, 

To the help of the Lord against the mighty. 



OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 139 

Blessed above women be Jael, 

The wife of Heber the Kenite, 

Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 

He asked water and she gave him milk; 

She brought forth butter in a lordly dish. 

She put her hand to the nail, 

And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; 

And with the hammer she smote Sisera, 

She smote through his head, 

Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples. 

At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; 

At her feet he bowed, he fell: 

Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. 

Through the window she looked forth, and cried, 

The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice: 

Why is his chariot so long in coming? 

Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? 

Her wise ladies answered her, 

Yea, she returned answer to herself, ' 

Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil: 

A damsel, two damsels to every man; 

To Sisera, a spoil of dyed garments, 

A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, 

Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of 

the spoil? 
So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: 
But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in 

his might. 

It will be observed that the poem is divided into seven 
paragraphs of twelve, nine, ten, twenty-two, fifteen, 
thirteen, and thirteen lines respectively. In the intro- 
ductory paragraph Deborah and Barak give thanks to 
Jehovah for the patriotic willingness of the people who 
answered the call to arms, and speak of the miraculous 
manifestations of the presence of Jehovah as he marches 
majestically to the assistance of Israel. Paragraph two 
sets forth the oppressed and helpless condition of Israel 
before the revolt. The next short paragraph calls upon 
the princes, the merchants, the travelers, and the women 
at the wells to tell the story of the zeal of the governors 
of Israel and to rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord. 
The fourth paragraph calls upon Deborah to sing of the 
mustering of the clans. Praise is accorded to those 
tribes that answered the call and reproaches heaped 
upon those who through fear or irresolution failed to 



140 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

come to the defense of the nation. The fifth paragraph 
tells of the battle, acknowledges the help of Jehovah, 
and bitterly curses Meroz for its traitorous inactivity 
because its inhabitants came not "to the help of the 
Lord against the mighty." The next paragraph praises 
Jael, the wife of Heber, and gives a terribly realistic 
picture of the killing of Sisera. The last paragraph, 
saving the last two lines, is doubtless a sort of taunt 
song; a graphic picture is drawn of Sisera 's mother 
anxiously waiting for the return of her son who she is 
sure has been victorious. The poet in irony makes her 
rejoice over his victory and enumerate the spoils and 
captives that he is bringing back in triumph. 

The prose account of the victory of Deborah and 
Barak over the Canaanites is straightforward and un- 
impassioned; but the poem presents the same incidents 
in a way to stir the interest and arouse the feelings of 
the reader. The prose is transformed into poetry by 
the use of the usual poetic form, figures, and devices. 
Of course these devices are used consciously by the 
writer, but it all seems simple, natural, spontaneous. 
There is an effective appeal to the imagination and the 
emotions by striking imagery and the multiplication of 
concrete details. The most important situations and in- 
cidents in the story are elaborated and made more per- 
sonal and dramatic. The movement of the narrative 
suggests rapid and energetic action. There is much use 
of the figure of parallelism, the first paragraph having 
five parallel couplets. The device of repetition is used 
with telling effect in the last two paragraphs. 

In the prose account bare mention is made of the fact 
that "the Lord discomfited Sisera,'' while the poem 
makes the reader feel that Jehovah is with the hosts of 
Israel, and that his presence determines the issues of 
the battle. There is an impressive picture of the march 
of the great Jehovah to the scene of the battle, making 
the earth tremble under his footsteps while the heavens 
rain death upon the presumptuous enemies of his chosen 
people. The poem has an atmosphere of sustained in- 
tensity, and the excited earnestness of the narrator be- 
gets a like interest and enthusiasm in the reader. It 



OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 141 

has been suggested that the pathetic picture in the last 
paragraph, of the anxious waiting mother, shows sym- 
pathetic sorrow, but the truth is that these lines are 
spoken in scorn, they make a lively and bitter taunt 
song. 

Seir. Often used to name the whole of Edom. 
Edom. The land southeast of Palestine. The highways 
were unoccupied. The oppression of the Israelites was 
so bitter and cruel that the people dared not travel the 
public roads. Was there a shield or a spear? For fear 
that they might raise an insurrection against their con- 
querors the Israelites had been deprived of all their 
weapons and were allowed to keep no smith among 
them. Ye that ride on white asses. The princes. Ye 
that sit on carpets. The merchants. In the places of 
drawing water. Where the women would be found. 
All these shall rehearse the great deeds of the warriors 
of Israel and speak the praises of Jehovah. Machir. A 
clan of Manasseh. Taanach, Megiddo. Two fortified 
towns on the border of the plains of Esdraelon where 
the battle was fought. The stars in their courses fought, 
etc. The stars controlled the destinies of the Canaanites 
and destroyed them by sending the fearful storm of 
wind and rain. Meroz. Supposed to be a village not 
far from the battlefield. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE BOOK OF PSALMS 

The Hebrew title of the Book of Psalms is a word 
meaning "praise songs.' ' "We get our modern word 
Psalms from the Greek word Psalmoi by which the He- 
brew title was translated into the Greek of the Septua- 
gint or Greek version of the Bible. 

The Book of Psalms is divided into five separate 
books; this division is indicated plainly in the Hebrew 
Bible and in the English Revised Version. The divi- 
sions are as follows: Book 1, Psalms 1 to 41; Book 2, 
42 to 72 ; Book 3, 73 to 89 ; Book 4, 90 to 106 ; Book 5, 
107 to 150. The end of the first four books is marked 
by a doxology; in the fifth book the place of such a 
doxology seems to be taken by the whole of Psalm 150. 
These doxologies are found in the Septuagint transla- 
tion, which shows that the division of the Psalter into 
five books was earlier than the second century b. c. 

The number of psalms according to the regular He- 
brew text is one hundred and fifty, and the Septuagint 
agrees except that there is inserted the 151st Psalm 
which is declared to be "outside the number." To this 
psalm is appended the explanation that it was written 
by David with his own hand when he fought in single 
combat with Goliath. Some ancient Jewish authorities 
reckon the number of psalms to be 149, others 147. The 
Jewish Talmud says that the number is 147, "according 
to the years of our father Jacob." There is a difference 
between the Hebrew and the Septuagint texts in the 
numbering of the psalms, though the totals are the same. 
Taking the Hebrew text as the standard, the Septuagint 
makes one psalm out of IX and X, also of CXIV and 
CXV, and divides CXVI and CXVII into two each. 
The Vulgate and the older English versions follow the 

142 



THE BOOK OF PSALMS 143 

Septuagint numbering, but the later English versions 
follow the Hebrew. Thus while the total number and 
the order are the same, the number of any particular 
psalm in the Septuagint version is one behind that of the 
Hebrew version in most parts of the Psalter. For ex- 
ample, David's Shepherd Psalm is number 23 in the 
Hebrew and 22 in the Septuagint version. 

The Hebrew Psalter was formed by a gradual growth. 
It appears that even the individual psalms gradually 
grew from a few lines to the length of stately songs. 
There is plain evidence that there existed originally a 
number of smaller collections of psalms, and that these 
were brought together in the five books which make up 
the Psalter. It was probably a process like the accumu- 
lation of the individual songs into the different parts of 
the modern Gospel Hymns, first number one, then num- 
ber two, and so on to number five ; and then a combina- 
tion of the five parts into one volume. The titles of the 
psalms indicate that those of them attributed to the 
same author were placed consecutively in the larger col- 
lections. For example, book three consists of two 
minor collections, one attributed to Asaph and the other 
to the sons of Korah ; and book five consists of a group 
of pilgrim songs and a group of hallelujah songs, each 
apparently at one time a distinct song book. 

To most of the individual psalms are prefixed titles 
or inscriptions designating their poetical, musical, or 
liturgical character, their authorship or origin, or the 
historical occasion for which they were written or which 
they illustrate. One title may include two or more of 
these matters. The greatest scholars and most perse- 
vering translators have been puzzled by the titles re- 
lating to the poetical, musical, and liturgical character 
of the psalms. The inscriptions referring to historical 
events are said to be inappropriate in many instances, 
and those referring to authorship are not always counted 
trustworthy. Evidently many of these titles and in- 
scriptions are no essential part of the psalms. 

Tradition says that David wrote seventy-four out of 
the one hundred and fifty psalms of the 1 'suit or. An 
interesting study might be made of those psalms which, 



144 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

in the Authorized Version, are assigned by introductory- 
inscriptions, to certain experiences of David or to par- 
ticular periods of his life. It seems clear that Psalms 
8, 19, 23, and 29 reflect the thoughts, emotions, and as- 
pirations of his early years. In Psalm 8 he humbles 
himself before the great Creator when he thinks how he 
has been exalted by being made the humble helper of 
the great Saul with his harp and his sling. In Psalm 
23 his shepherd life furnishes the symbolism for the 
expression of his understanding of the kindness and 
gentleness of God. The eloquent orbs and spaces above 
him, as he lies with his sheep, show to him the great- 
ness of God, and he, with a poet's inspiration, proclaims 
it to the world in Psalm 19. Psalm 29 is a vivid picture 
of one of the many storms David must have looked 
upon from his sheltered retreat among the mountains. 
Psalm 59 is doubtless his prayer for deliverance as 
Saul's men have surrounded him and are eager for his 
blood; and Psalm 56, his cry for divine help when as a 
fugitive from Israel, his life is threatened at the Philis- 
tine court of King Achish. In Psalm 52 he upbraids 
Doeg for causing the death of those who befriended him, 
and predicts the utter destruction of this cruel, mis- 
chief-making Edomite. Psalm 57 is a cave song, or a 
hymn from the stronghold of Adullum where David's 
enemies roar about him like fierce lions; and Psalm 54 
is a cry to Jehovah for help when the people of Ziph 
were planning to betray him into the hands of his 
enemy Saul. 

All the psalms here referred to belong to the youth 
of David and to the strenuous years when he was a 
fugitive with a price set on his head. Two songs, 
Psalms 24 and 68, clearly belong to the prosperous 
period of David's life, to the ceremonies of the greatest 
event of his history — the placing of the sacred ark on 
Mount Moriah. The first was sung as the procession 
of priests and people marched up to the gates of the 
sacred enclosure and demanded that they be opened in 
the name of the Lord of Hosts. The second presents, 
obscurely, however, the whole checkered career of Israel 
as the nation has fought with its enemies under the 



THE BOOK OF PSALMS 145 

guidance and protection of Jehovah. It is plainly a 
processional hymn used in the ceremonies of this great 
celebration. 

Studies of Individual Psalms 

To illustrate a method which may be used in the mas- 
tery of the individual psalms, there are here presented 
interpretations of the first, twenty-fourth, nineteenth, 
and twenty-ninth Psalms, all poems of different types. 

PSALM I 

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, 
Nor standeth in the way of sinners, 
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scoffers: 
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; 
And on his law doth he meditate day and night. 

And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, 

That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, 

Whose leaf also doth not wither; 

And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 

The wicked are not so, 

But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 

Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, 
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; 
But the way of the wicked shall perish. 

This psalm is introductory to the Book of Psalms. It 
is a development in poetical language and imagery of 
the thought repeated many times in the Book of Prov- 
erbs, that it is well with the righteous and ill with the 
wicked. It proclaims the superiority of the man occu- 
pied in meditating upon the divine law, to the worldly 
man who is without seriousness, stability, accomplish- 
ment, or security for the future. A suggestive title 
might be "The Tree and the Chaff." 

Development of the theme: The first stanza of five 
lines contrasts the man of pious meditation to three 
grades of bad men : 

1. The one who walketh in the counsel of the wicked. 

2. The one who standeth in the way of sinners. 

3. The one who sitteth in the seat of the scoffers. 



146 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

Note the three-fold parallelism — walk, stand, sit; 
counsel, way, session; wicked, sinners, scoffers. Three 
successive steps in a career of evil are presented : adop- 
tion of principles; persistence in practices; and delib- 
erate association with those who are notorious offenders. 

In the second stanza of six lines the tree rooted, vig- 
orous, and luxuriant with green leaves, and full of fruit, 
is contrasted to the light and unstable chaff driven be- 
fore the wind. These well symbolize the two contrasted 
lives. 

The conclusion: This is presented in the four lines 
of stanza three. The wicked can not stand when his life 
is given its true value nor can sinners remain with the 
righteous. The judgment referred to is not that of the 
last day, but the estimate formed of a man from his acts 
from day to day. The meaning of the word knoweth 
includes the ideas of approval, care, and guidance by the 
Lord. 

Among the parallelisms are lines four and five (syn- 
noymous) ; lines six and seven (synthetic) ; lines four- 
teen and fifteen (antithetic). The figures of speech are 
metaphors and similes. They are numerous, apt, and 
vivid. The appeal to the imagination is clear and 
definite. 

PSALM XXIV 

This psalm was used on the occasion of the bringing 
of the sacred ark to Jerusalem. Let us imagine that 
the great procession is forming at the foot of the hill 
ready to march up carrying the ark to the temporary 
structure prepared to receive it. The procession of 
priests and trumpeters is leading the way and the whole 
company sings : 

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, 
The world and they that dwell therein; 
For he hath founded it upon the seas, 
And established it upon the floods." 

Then there is a solo by a priest : 

"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? 
And who shall stand in his holy place?" 



THE BOOK OF PSALMS 147 

Response by another priest : 

"He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, 
Who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, 
And hath not sworn deceitfully. 
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, 
And righteousness from the God of our salvation." 

Then a chorus by the whole company as they march 
up the hill : 

"This is the generation of them that seek after him, 
That seek thy face, even Jacob." 

The procession is halted at the gates of the enclosure 
and a summons is given to open the gates. Certain 
words of challenge and response have been agreed upon 
and the gates will not open until the proper response 
has been given. The leaders of the procession sing 
their demands: 

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; 
And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; 
And the King of glory shall come in." 

Then comes the challenge from within: 
"Who is this King of glory?" 

Kesponse from without : 

"The Lord, strong and mighty, 
The Lord mighty in battle." 

This is not the correct response and the gates are not 
opened, so the worshipers must repeat their summons : 

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; 
Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors, 
And the King of glory shall come in." 

Challenge from within: 

"Who is this King of glory?" 

Joint chorus from without, in which at last the great 
name is spoken : 

"The Lord of Hosts, 
He is the King of glory!" 



148 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

At these words the gates open and the further cere- 
monies of the inauguration are carried out. 

PSALM XIX 

The heavens declare the glory of God; 
And the firmament showeth his handiwork. 

Day unto day utter eth speech, 

And night unto night showeth knowledge. 

There is no speech nor language; 
Their voice is not heard. 

Their line is gone out through all the earth, 
And their words to the end of the world. 

In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, 
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course. 

His going forth is from the end of the heavens, 

And his circuit unto the ends of it ; 

And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul: 

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: 

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: 

The ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; 

Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honey-comb. 

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: 

In keeping them there is great reward. 

Who can discern his errors? 

Clear thou me from hidden faults. 

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; 

Let them not have dominion over me: 

Then shall I be upright, 

And I shall be clear from great transgression. 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart 

Be acceptable in thy sight, 

Lord, my rock, and my redeemer. 

The title of this psalm might be ' ' God 's law in Nature 
and in the Human Heart. " It is sometimes called ' ' The 
Psalm of the Sun," because the sun is the chief witness 
in the testimony given of the glory of the Creator. 



THE BOOK OF PSALMS 149 

The theme of the first part is : The testimony of the 
heavens to the power, majesty, and greatness of the 
Creator; of the second part, The beauty and power of 
the moral law. 

Line of thought. The thought of the first part is that 
the heavens bear eloquent and unceasing witness to 
God's glory. This statement is made in the first line 
and repeated and elaborated beautifully and poetically 
in the remaining thirteen lines. The heavens, the firma- 
ment, the phenomena of day and night, the great sun, 
all are witnesses of God 's glory and publish it abroad. 

In the second part of the poem the law of God in the 
human heart is given different designations — law, testi- 
mony, precepts, commandment, fear of the Lord, ordi- 
nances — and the characteristics, power, and influence of 
each are set forth. Then the Psalmist, thinking of the 
great difficulty a man has in understanding and con- 
forming his life to the law, so straight and exacting, 
prays for divine help that he may be obedient, pure, 
clean, and acceptable. 

Form. There are two distinct divisions of the poem 
as has already been explained. Some readers have 
thought that these parts are the work of two authors; 
but it is more reasonable to suppose that the contrast of 
the two divisions is a part of the plan of the poem. The 
setting of these parts off against one another is very 
effective and there is certainly a kind of unity in the 
plan. The poem is made beautiful, musical, and elo- 
quent by the most skillful use of parallelism. There are 
many figures of speech and the appeal to the imagina- 
tion is vivid and strong. 

Explanation of words and phrases. The heavens, the 
space in which the heavenly bodies are placed. The 
glory of God, the visible manifestation of his presence; 
the heavens in their vastness, splendor, order, and mys- 
tery are peculiarly suited to show forth God's glory. 
The firmament, the vault of heaven. Day unto day ut- 
tereth speech, each day, each night, pours out its mes- 
sage to its successor in an unbroken tradition. There 
is no speech nor language, their message is inarticulate. 
Their voice is not heard, there is a silent eloquence reach- 



150 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

ing from one end of the world to the other. Addison 
has beautifully paraphrased this line : 

"What though in solemn silence all 
Move round the dark terrestrial ball? 
What though nor real voice nor sound 
Amid their radiant orbs is found? 
In reason's ear they all rejoice 
And utter forth a glorious voice, 
Forever singing as they shine, 
The hand that made us is divine.' " 

Their line is gone out, the word line means measuring 
line. This line has measured the whole earth as the 
territory in which the heavens may proclaim their mes- 
sage. In them hath he set a tabernacle, the sun is the 
chief witness. He is a king with his pavilion, his taber- 
nacle, in the heavens, and marches across the heavens 
like a conquering hero. He is splendid in his attire and 
has the freshness of youthful vigor and happiness. The 
law of the Lord, instruction, doctrine, teaching. Per- 
fect, complete, a guide which can not mislead or fail. 
Restoring, refreshing, invigorating. Testimony, the law 
as bearing on God's will and man's duty. Sure, not 
variable or uncertain. Simple, the open-minded man. 
Commandment, a special injunction in which man's 
obligations are set forth. It is straight and gives moral 
satisfaction. Pure, a term applied to the sun, light- 
giving, giving light to the one who hears and obeys. 
Fear of the Lord, another synonym for law. It is clean 
in contrast to the immoralities of the heathen. Endur- 
ing forever, righteousness is immortal. Ordinances, 
statutes, laws. They are in accord with absolute justice. 
Presumptuous sins, sins committed in a spirit of proud 
defiance. 

PSALM XXIX 

This poem may have for its title "The Tempest," or 
"The Voice of Jehovah in the Tempest." There is no 
phenomenon in nature so awful as a thunderstorm, and 
almost every poet from Homer and Virgil down to the 
present day has tried to describe it. This psalm is a 
description of such a tempest. It is well known that 



THE BOOK OF PSALMS 151 

storms in Palestine are far more sudden, violent, and 
impressive than in western countries. The Hebrews be- 
lieved that thunder was the voice of Jehovah. And so 
the theme of this poem is that the Lord is present in the 
destructive thunderstorm and will protect his people 
from the power of the tempest. 

Form. The first two verses are an introduction to the 
poem and call upon the mighty ones to praise Jehovah 
because of the power and majesty he shows in the guid- 
ance of the storm and because of the protection he gives 
to his people. The remainder of the poem is devoted to 
an account of the geographical progress of the storm. 
There are no figures of speech except metaphors and 
parallelisms. 

Line of thought. Let us imagine the spectator-psalm- 
ist standing with the awe-struck multitude in the Temple 
porch at Jerusalem, where they have been driven for 
refuge from the coming storm, and watching the march 
of the thunderstorm as it rises out of the Mediterranean, 
the "mighty sea," and sweeps eastward, strikes the 
cedars on the mountains, breaks them, and causes the 
mountains to quake. They see the storm continue its way 
across the plains, frightening the wild animals, and amid 
flashes of lightning burst in a water flood upon the Tem- 
ple. There are touches of terror in the description of the 
geographical progress of the tornado, and it derives a 
sacred power from the presence of Jehovah in each suc- 
cessive peal of thunder. 

The storm arises out of the sea and the poet cries : 

"The voice of the Lord is on the sea; 
The God of glory thundereth; 
The Lord is on the mighty sea! 
The voice of the Lord is powerful, 
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty!" 

Now the tempest has swept from the sea and struck 
Lebanon with majestic power and a mighty roar. The 
people look toward Lebanon and the poet again speaks : 

"The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; 
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon; 
He maketh them to skip like a calf, 
Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. " 



152 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

Then with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder the 
tornado sweeps across the plain toward the Temple, and 
the poet cries : 

"The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire, 
Thr f the Lord shaketh the wilderness. 

The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 
The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve 
And discovereth the forests: 
And in his Temple doth every one speak of his glory:-' 

— For there has gone up from the multitude in the Tem- 
ple porch a shout of praise and admiration for the power 
and magnificence of this great manifestation of the 
mighty Jehovah. 

Now the fury of the storm is spent and showers of 
water begin to fall, and the poet cries again : 

"The Lord sitteth upon the water torrent:''' 

Then thinking of the majesty of the storm, of the power- 
ful King who commands the tempests, and of their safety 
in the midst of this spectacular display of destructive 
forces, he cries out : 

''Tea. the Lord sitteth king forever. 
The Lord will give strength unto his people ! ■ 

— Here the sun breaks forth in magnificent glory and the 
poet utters the closing line : 

•''The Lord will bless his people with peace/'" 

Explanation of words and phrases. ye mighty, sons 
of the mighty, or sons of God. or sons of the gods. In 
the beauty of holi :: ::: __;_- array. Sirion. Mount 
Hermon. Divideth the f.arnes of fire, display of forked 
lightning. Maketh the hinds to calve, prematurely, 
through fear. Discovereth the forests, uncovereth or 
maketh visible, or as in Revised Version, strippeth the 
forests bare. 



CHAPTER XIII 

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 

The author of the Book of Job is unknown. The date 
of its composition is supposed to be between the time of 
King Solomon and of the Exile, about 600 B.C. In form 
it is a dramatic poem framed in an epic setting. The 
prologue, the epilogue, and the explanatory introduction 
to Elihu's speech are prose, the remainder of the book is 
poetry. There is plainly a unity pervading the book, 
though many scholars declare that it is a composite work 
and has been supplemented by successive additions. 

The Book of Job ranks with the great poems of litera- 
ture. Indeed there are many readers who regard it as 
the greatest masterpiece of all literature. It has been 
well classed with the three greatest dramas of the world, 
the Prometheus Bound of iEschylus, Shakespeare's 
Hamlet, and Goethe's Faust. In spiritual insight, in 
strength, in a certain audacity of courage in dealing 
with truth, the author of Job may be said to surpass even 
iEsehylus, or Goethe, or Shakespeare. 

Carlyle says of this book, ' ' I call the Book of Job, apart 
from all theories about it, one of the grandest things ever 
written with pen. One feels indeed as if it were not 
Hebrew, such a noble universality, different from patriot- 
ism and sectarianism, reigns in it. A noble book; all 
men's book! It is our first, oldest statement of the 
never-ending Problem — man's destiny and God's way 
with him here in the earth. And all in such free flowing 
outlines, grand in its sincerity, in its simplicity, in its 
epic melody, and repose of reconcilement. Such living 
likenesses were never since drawn. Sublime sorrow, sub- 
lime reconciliation, oldest choral melody as of the heart 
of mankind. There is nothing written, I think, in the 
Bible or out of it, of equal literary merit. ' ' 

153 



154 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

Job has been called the problem drama. According to 
Professor Conant's view, the subject of the book is "The 
mystery of God's providential government of men." 
Professor Delitzseh declares that the problem is, "Why 
does suffering on suffering befall the righteous ? ' ' Pro- : 
fessor Genung in his most excellent study of Job, "The 
Epic of The Inner Life," argues that the chief problem 
is not the mystery of suffering in the world, but is 
expressed in Satan's sneering words, "Does Job serve 
God for naught ? ' ' There is no doubt that the book dis- 
cusses all these problems. Indeed it would be difficult 
to state the problem or the teaching of the book in one 
abstract proposition. It is a true picture of real life, 
and in such a picture good and evil, and wisdom and 
error, are too much interwoven to say that they are all 
working to a certain well-defined pattern. Characters of 
the Drama : 

Jehovah. He has a majestic part; is fittingly intro- 
duced in a thunder storm; his words are full of power 
and sublimity ; he is kind, just, and forgiving ; gives even 
the devil his due. 

Satan. Not a very powerful or bad character ; a sort 
of prosecuting attorney for the world. 

Job. A wealthy sheik; the hero of the drama; of mag- 
nificent courage, humble patience, strong faith, and Pro- 
methean independence. 

Eliphaz. Prince and scholar of Teman; the oldest 
and wisest of the three friends; a dignified and noble 
character; is firm in his opinion; of plain, common 
sense ; a seer of visions and a dreamer of dreams ; a ven- 
erable theologian. 

Bildad, Prince of Shuah ; a sage and a treasure house 
of the wisdom of the ancients ; his philosophy not broad, 
but clear and definite; his fundamental creed — God's 
justice ; a traditionalist. 

Zophar. Prince and scholar of Naamah ; is dogmatic 
and bigoted; commonplace, sharp, and bitter; prides 
himself on being ' ' a plain, blunt man. ' ' 

Elihu. A young prince and scholar of Buz; of the 
family of Ram. Is egotistic, though he dwells on his 
modesty; shows the confidence of youth; seems to think 



A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 155 

himself the vehicle of absolute truth ; but makes a strong 
and eloquent plea. This is a clever bit of characteriza- 
tion. 

Job's Wife. She appears but once; can not under- 
stand Job 's attitude ; has been too much maligned by the 
commentators. 

Four Messengers. Field hand, shepherd, drover, 
household servant. 

Sons of God. Angels, or possibly human worshipers. 

Job's brethren, sisters, acquaintances, and a miscel- 
laneous company of people from the village. 
Divisions of the Drama : 

There are five definite divisions of the book : The Pro- 
logue, the Debate, Interposition of Elihu, the Voice out 
of the Whirlwind, and the Epilogue. 

The Prologue. This presents the preliminary story, 
introduces the chief characters and lays the basis for the 
rest of the drama. This is written in prose except a few 
lines in which the messengers dramatically make their 
reports. 

The Debate. Job driven from the city on account of 
his loathsome disease, sits on the ash-mound at the city 
gate seven days in silence ; then he begins his complaint 
and is answered by his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, 
and Zophar. The debate continues through three cycles 
of speeches, the friends speaking to Job in turn and Job 
answering each one. 

The Speech of Elihu. A young man, Elihu, has lis- 
tened impatiently to the efforts of the three friends to 
refute Job's arguments and as soon as he has the oppor- 
tunity he takes the place of the friends and tries to con- 
vince Job of the error of his opinions and ways. 

The Voice of Jehovah. A great storm arises, and out 
of the whirlwind the voice of Jehovah speaks to Job to 
reprimand him for his impatience, and bitterness, and 
presumption, and to convince him that he little under- 
stands the ways of Jehovah in the world. Job repents of 
his rebellious spirit and speeches and submits himself to 
Jehovah. 

The Epilogue. In the prose conclusion of the book Job 
is vindicated and restored to his former glory and great- 



156 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

ness and the three friends are condemned for their false 
speaking. 

THE PROLOGUE 

The Prologue presents a series of five scenes changing 
from earth to heaven and back again, the time being 
several weeks or months. The first scene opens with Job 
at his home devout, prosperous, peaceful, happy, the 
greatest of all the men of the East. The second scene 
takes place in heaven where the sons of God come to pre- 
sent themselves before Jehovah. Satan appears in the 
company and Jehovah asks him if he has observed the 
perfect and upright character of his servant Job. 
Satan's reply is a charge that Job's righteousness is mer- 
cenary and not disinterested. So Job is given into the 
hands of Satan to be tested. The third scene presents 
Job at his home in Uz where in a most dramatic way four 
breathless messengers in quick succession announce to 
him the loss of all his flocks and herds, and of the tragic 
death of his seven sons and three daughters. Job is 
crushed by the calamity but utters no w T ord of complaint 
against Jehovah. The fourth scene is the second council 
in heaven at which Satan reports his failure and declares 
that if Job is touched with physical affliction he will curse 
Jehovah to his face. So Job is further given into the 
power of Satan except that his life must be spared. In 
the fifth scene Job sits upon an ash heap at the gate of his 
village, an outcast afflicted with a painful and loathsome 
disease. He does not curse Jehovah but is grievously 
bewildered and perplexed. 

THE DEBATE 

Here the drama begins. The ash-mound is the stage, 
with all surrounding nature for scenery; round about 
stand a chorus of silent spectators, gazing on the great 
man now fallen so low ; travelers stop and wonder at the 
sight. His wife loses her faith and bids him renounce 
Jehovah, who treats him thus, and die. His three 
friends in pomp of woe are there; they have ascended 
the mound and are sitting near their afflicted comrade. 
All wait for the suffering hero to break the silence. 



A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 157 

It is taken for granted by all, Job, his wife, and his 
friends, that he is, for some reason, the object of God's 
wrath. The disease with which he is afflicted, elephanti- 
asis, was regarded as the dread sign of a visitation from. 
God. This, then, is Job's difficulty: God is punishing 
him — and for what he does not know. He knows'that he 
has not sinned. He is conscious of the strictest integ- 
rity. It is strange that he should be punished without 
knowing what his crime is. This distresses him, but his 
distress is greater when he feels that he is shut off from 
the friendship of God, and greater yet when he thinks 
that if a righteous man is punished just as if he were a 
wicked man, then the world is out of joint, and right and 
wrong, justice and injustice are all confused in the 
world. It is this that perplexes his spirit ; and time and 
again when his friends try to convince him of the truth 
of their theory which declares suffering always to be the 
result of sin, and prosperity, the reward of righteousness, 
he is sorely tried, for he knows that there is a conflict 
between this theory and his own consciousness. And so 
the debate and struggle go on. Seven days and seven 
nights have Job's friends sat in silence when Job utters 
the curse with which the debate opens. It is not a curse 
against God but rather an appeal to God in a heart-rend- 
ing lamentation and a bitter complaint that he must live 
and suffer. 

Let the day perish wherein I was born; 

And the night which said, There is a man child conceived! 

Let that day be darkness; 

Let not God regard it from above, 

N either let the light shine upon it, 

Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; 

Let a cloud dwell upon it; 

Let all that maketh black the day terrify it. 

Wherefore is light given to him, that is in misery, 

And life unto the bitter in soul? 

This complaint is the outpouring of an over-burdened 
soul who can not see why a life so bitter and hard should 
be given at all. Thinking, of course, that his friends 
will understand him and sympathize with him, he thus 
pours out his heart in bitter anguish. But when he 
pauses he is surprised that he does not receive any words 



158 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

of sympathy from his friends and soon learns that they 
are shocked at his blasphemy in not submitting to this 
stroke of misfortune without making any protest. So 
they determine to set him right and the debate begins. 
Eliphaz gently and kindly rebukes him and gives him the 
consolation of a theology which declares that adversity is 
always divine punishment. He begins with an apology, 

"If one essay a word with thee, wilt thou be offended, 
Yet who can forbear speaking?" 

Then follows the best, the most elaborate of all the 
speeches made by the three friends. It anticipates the 
argument of Bildad and Zophar and partly that of Elihu. 
Eliphaz asks Job why he, who has comforted so many, 
should now fall into despair when affliction comes nigh 
him. He declares that in the world everything comes by 
justice and desert. When we see a man suffering we 
know that he has sinned and we can measure the enor- 
mity of his transgression by the intensity of his suffering. 
He affirms that it is wickedly presumptuous for a man to 
pass judgment on the acts of Jehovah. He knows that 
he is right in this position because the truth of it was 
revealed to him in a vision. In the night a shadowy 
form passed before his frightened eyes and a voice was 
heard saying, 

"Shall mortal man be just before God? 
Shall a man be pure before his Maker?" 

So no man can be right in complaining of God's mis- 
management of the world. Job should be glad that God 
is testing him; this chastening is for his good: God 
smites only to heal. The purpose is to lead him into a 
broader, richer life where he shall be in league with 
nature and every creature. The exhortation concludes : 

"Then shalt thou come to thy grave in full age, 
Like as a shock of corn cometh in its season. 
Lo this! We have searched it, it is so; 
Hear it and know it for thy good." 

It is a mortifying surprise to Job that his friends do not 
accept his new point of view and he defends himself 
vigorously against the remonstrances of Eliphaz, laments 



A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 159 

the attitude of his friends, and charges them with being 
fickle and unfeeling. 

Then Job turns from his friends and addresses the 
Almighty, pleads with him, rehearses his miseries, and 
pathetically declares that his suffering is too great for 
such an insignificant being : 

"What is man that thou shouldst magnify him, 
That thou shouldst visit him every morning, 
And try him every moment? 
If I have sinned what can I do unto thee, 
O thou watcher of men? 
Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee, 
JSo that I am a burden to myself?" 

Bildad is incensed that Job should seek to maintain his 
righteousness in the face of what to him is overwhelming 
proof of Job's sin. He emphasizes the perfect justice 
that orders all things : 

"Will God pervert the right? 

Or will the Almighty pervert justice? 

If thy children have sinned against him, 

So hath he given them over into the hands of their transgressions." 

Job's bitter complaint is that there is no right standard 
of justice in the world ; the wicked rule and the judges 
are blind. He cries out 

"The earth is given into the hands of the wicked: 
He covereth the faces of the judges thereof. 
If it be not he, who then is it?" 

Bildad affirms that God is just, always just, therefore 
when there is punishment sent, it inevitably argues a sin 
committed. Job protests against this with terrible 
energy. Then he complains that God hides his face from 
him. And since God is thus hidden, he longs for a medi- 
ator, an interpreter, a daysman, 

"Who might lay his hand on both of us; 
Let him remove his rod from me, 
That the dread of him should not unman me." 

As the debate goes on the friends grow more provoking 
and Job sometimes loses his patience and speaks in bitter 
sarcasm : 



160 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

"No doubt but ye are the people, 
And wisdom shall die with you. 
But I have understanding as well as you; 
I am not inferior to you; 
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these? 
I am as one that is a laughing stock to his neighbor, 
A man that called upon God, and he answered him, 
The just, the perfect man, is made a laughing-stock." 

He longs in his darkness for the light which the Gospel 
afterwards brought to the world. If he could only be 
sure that there is a life beyond the grave where justice 
would be rendered, — but he is not very hopeful, — and, 
for the time he pushes the thought aside. 

Zophar affirms that the joy of the ungodly is only for a 
moment : 

"Knowest thou not this of old time, 
Since man was placed upon earth, 
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, 
And the joy of the godless but for a moment, 
Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, 
And his head reach unto the clouds; 
Yet he shall perish forever like his own dung: 
They which have seen him shall say, Where is he? 
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: 
Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night." 

But Zophar is not really describing what is but what he 
thinks ought to be. Job replies that this is not a true 
picture of life and he depicts life as he finds it in the 
world : 

"Wherefore do the wicked live, 
Become old, yea, wax mighty in power? 
Their seed is established with them in their sight, 
And their offspring before their eyes. 
Their houses are safe from fear, 
Neither is the rod of God upon them. 
They send forth their little ones like a flock, 
And their children dance, they sing to the timbrel and harp, 
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe. 
They spend their days in prosperity, 
And in a moment they go down to Sheol. 
Yet they said unto God, Depart from us, 
For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 
What is the Almighty that he should serve him? 
And what profit should we have if we pray unto him ?" 



A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 161 

Once more his friends tell him that he must have 
sinned against God. They grapple more closely with 
him; they accuse him directly now. Job has been get- 
ting the better of the argument apparently and in order 
to save his theology Eliphaz is determined that Job shall 
be wicked, whatever happens to the facts. After accus- 
ing him of having stripped the poor of their clothing, 
withholden bread from the hungry, broken the arms of 
the fatherless, and sent widows away empty, he counsels 
him to reconcile himself with God and be at peace. 
Pathetic indeed is Job 's reply here to the heartless com- 
f ortings of his friends : 

"0 that I knew where I might find him, 
That I might come even to his seat! 
I would order my cause before him, 
And rill my mouth with arguments, 
I would know the words which he would answer me, 
And understand what he would say unto me. 
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? 
Nay, he would give heed unto me ; 
There the upright might reason with him; 
80 should I be delivered forever from my judge. 
Behold 1 go forward, 
But he is not there; 
And backward, 
But 1 can not perceive him ; 
On the left hand, where he doth work, 
But I can not behold him; 
He hideth himself on the right hand, 
That I can not see him. 
But he knoweth the way that I take; 
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 
My foot hath held fast to his steps; 
His way have 1 kept, and turned not aside. 
1 have not gone back from the commandment of his lips; 
1 have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my 
necessary food." 

Job closes the debate by uttering the "oath of clear- 
ing" in which he protests that he is innocent of the 
charges which the friends have brought against him. 
He clears himself of all secret sensual desires and prac- 
tices ; repudiates the charge that he has abused his power 
or has been indifferent to the sufferings of others; clears 
himself of any secret dishonorable feelings against God 
or man ; then fixes his signature to these earnest protesta- 
tions. 



162 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 



THE INTERPOSITION OF ELIHU 

Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu when he saw that 
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar had no answer for Job. 
After some preliminary parleying about his youth and 
modesty and ability to refute Job, he begins his argu- 
ment. He declares that Job's charge that God shows 
arbitrary hostility to him is unfounded. He declares 
that God never refuses to hear an appeal ; that he speaks 
to man in many ways, through dreams and visions, and 
through chastenings ; that in the midst of these ehasten- 
ings he sends his angel messengers who appeal to the suf- 
ferer to return to the path of rectitude and prosperity. 
He declares, also, that God arranges the order of the 
world himself and has, therefore, no motive for injustice ; 
being higher than the law, whatever God does must be 
lawful, just, and right. He says further that Job's 
declaration that man is not profited by righteousness is 
not true; that man's conduct affects himself alone; that 
God is too exalted to be affected by human conduct. He 
closes by presenting a picture of the greatness and 
unsearchableness of God in nature, and appeals to Job to 
consider these wonderful things. 

THE DIVINE INTERVENTION 

During the last part of Elihu 's speech a storm has been 
gathering and now a voice comes out of the whirlwind. 
The theme of this address is, Shall mortal man contend 
with God ? This thirty-eighth chapter is one of the sub- 
limest passages in the world's literature. The lines are 
unapproachable as descriptions of the wonders of crea- 
tion and the greatness of the Creator and are made 
splendid by choice diction, startling imagery, and pic- 
turesque illustrations. The address begins : 

"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 

Gird up now thy loins like a man; 

For I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. 

Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? 

Declare, if thou hast understanding. 

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? 

Or who hath stretched the line upon it? 

Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? 



A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 163 

Or who laid the corner-stone thereof, 

When the morning stars sang together, 

And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 

Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, 

As if it had issued out of the womb? 

When I made the cloud the garment thereof, 

And thick darkness a swaddling band for it, 

And brake up for it my decreed place, 

And set bars and doors, 

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come but no further: 

And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" 

In this address out of the whirlwind there is first a 
setting forth of the most striking features and phenom- 
ena of the physical world and of the mysteries of crea- 
tion : The wonders of the earth and the heavens, and the 
marvels of God's animal creation : the lion and the raven, 
the goats and the hinds, the wild ass, the wild ox, the 
ostrich, the war horse, the eagle, and the hawk. Each 
one is wonderful and mysterious. Could Job contend 
with God in such creative power ? Then since Job ques- 
tions the principles of God's rule, he is ironically invited 
to govern the world himself. He is told that it will re- 
quire omnipotence : 

"Hast thou an arm like God 
And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?" 

Besides, there are two monsters, the Behemoth and the 
Leviathan; Job must try his hand at conquering them. 
There is here a most lively and picturesque account of 
these giant monsters. After he has seen this dazzling 
panorama of the great and powerful phenomena of Jeho- 
vah's marvelous universe, Job stands abashed. He cries 
out: 

"I know that thou canst do all things 

And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. 

I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; 

But now mine eyes seeth thee; 

Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 

We are not to understand that Job really repents. He 
has nothing to repent of. Let his sufferings be presented 
to him as a mystery, he can submit and trust ; but if they 
are charged to him as punishment for sin, he revolts 
against the injustice. 



164 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

THE EPILOGUE 

Job having humbled himself before God, is restored to 
a prosperity twofold that which he enjoyed before. He 
is commanded to intercede for his three friends lest pun- 
ishment for their folly be visited upon them, because 
they spoke not that which was right concerning Jehovah. 
In Job 's prosperity his friends who had stood aloof, come 
back to him to comfort him and to greet him with gifts of 
gold. But his blessings do not end with the restoration 
of his property and his friends. His home is made 
happy by the return of his children, seven stalwart sons 
and three fair daughters. In all the land no women were 
found so fair as the daughters of Job. So worthy were 
they that he disregards the Hebrew practice and gives 
them an inheritance, even though he has seven sons. 
With his children of three generations about him he lives 
in happiness for one hundred and forty years, and dies, 
being old and full of days. 

The Problem op the Book and the Solutions 
Offered. 

The real problem of the Book of Job is, Why must the 
righteous man endure suffering? Four answers are 
given. The Prologue seems to indicate that suffering is 
the test of goodness. Satan sneeringly declares that Job 
is righteous because it is easy for him to be so in the 
midst of presperity; and Jehovah permits a test to be 
made to determine whether Job 's piety is of the commer- 
cial sort or of the disinterested kind. Suffering is the 
means by which this question is to be determined. 

The second solution is presented by the three friends in 
the extended debate. Their thesis is that suffering is a 
punishment for sin; that the very character and 
righteousness of God are involved in the thesis. 

The new factor which Elihu adds to the discussion is 
that suffering is one of the voices by which God warns 
men against their sins and seeks to restore them to 
righteous living. 

The solution offered by the Voice out of the Whirlwind 



A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 165 

is that the whole Universe is an unfathomed and 
unfathomable mystery. The good is as mysterious as the 
evil. The greatness and grandeur of the Universe with 
its secret and uncontrollable forces should teach man that 
there are problems which he can not solve, questions 
which must remain unanswered. The proper attitude 
for one to take in the presence of such mystery is one of 
humility and trustfulness. The Voice teaches this and 
does, in fact, induce in Job such a state of mind. 

Another teaching of the book is that a man should 
stand for his honest convictions at all hazards ; that he 
should go wherever his search for truth leads him. The 
unyielding integrity of Job that could even reproach God 
when his rule in the world seemed unjust, was more 
acceptable than the servile adoration of the three friends 
who sought to twist the truth in order to justify God. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE SONG OF SONGS 

There has always been much difference of opinion as 
to the proper interpretation of The Song of Songs, 
among both Jewish and Christian scholars. The subject 
is evidently love, but the manner of dealing with the sub- 
ject is obscure. It seems evident, too, that the poem is in 
the form of dialogue, but who the speakers are and how 
the lines are distributed among them has always been a 
matter of controversy. An interpretation that has been 
given prominence in late years by the German scholar, 
Badde, is that the book is not a drama at all but consists 
of a series of lyric idyls or marriage songs. This critic 
explains that even to-day there is a Syrian custom of cele- 
brating weddings by such ceremonies as are presented in 
this poem. The celebration lasts seven days, which are 
called "The King's Week," because the young groom 
and his bride seated on a kind of throne erected for them 
on a threshing floor, as a place of honor, play the parts of 
king and queen and receive the homage of a large com- 
pany of their relatives and friends. The ceremonies con- 
sist partly of marriage songs accompanied by dances, 
participated in by the wedding attendants, a chorus of 
men and women, and the young pair themselves. 

While it may be that these customs explain the song, 
while it is possible thus to divide it into dramatic lyrics 
and regard them as a suite of wedding songs, it is possi- 
ble, also, and more interesting to look upon it as a drama. 
It is so considered in the following study. There are two 
views of the poem as a drama. According to one of 
these, the traditional view, there are but two main char- 
acters by whom the dialogue is sustained, King Solo- 
mon and a Shulamite maiden of whom he is enamored. 
According to the other view, there are three principal 

166 



THE SONG OF SONGS 167 

characters, King Solomon, the Shulamite maiden, and 
her shepherd lover. The second view is more pleasing 
and gives a more satisfactory meaning to the poem. 

Brief Synopsis of the Story: A beautiful Shulamite 
maiden, surprised by the king and his train on a royal 
progress in the north of Palestine, has been taken to the 
camp and afterwards brought to the king's palace in 
Jerusalem. The king hopes to persuade her to exchange 
her rustic home in the north for the honor and enjoy- 
ments which a court life could afford. She has, how- 
ever, already pledged her heart to a young shepherd, and 
the admiration and blandishments which the king lav- 
ishes upon her are powerless to make her forget her 
lover. All the promised luxury and honors can not 
induce her to prove unfaithful to her vows to the humble 
shepherd lover. In the end she is allowed to return to 
her mountain home, where at the close of the poem, the 
lovers appear hand in hand, and express in warm and 
glowing words the superiority of genuine, spontaneous, 
innocent affection over that which may be purchased by 
wealth or rank. 

Interpretation of the Poem. 

The drama opens in north Palestine. Solomon and his 
court have come up from Jerusalem and are encamped 
among the hills of Galilee. The officers of the king have 
come upon a beautiful, sunburnt peasant girl who is in 
charge of a vineyard. They are struck with her beauty 
and are sure that Solomon would be pleased to add her to 
his harem. We learn afterwards that she has had a hard 
time at her home ; she is apparently living with her step- 
mother and her stepbrothers are harsh in their treatment 
of her. We learn that she has become betrothed to a 
peasant in the vicinity and looks upon her betrothal as 
sacred and binding. So her faithfulness is in no wise 
disturbed by the proffered honor of entering the king's 
harem, an honor that was gladly accepted by Bathsheba 
and Esther. 

In the first scene the Shulamite is presented in a mood 
of loneliness longing for the caresses of her absent lover 



168 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

and complaining that she is detained at the royal encamp- 
ment against her will. She inquires eagerly where her 
lover may be found, and the court ladies reply ironically 
that she should go forth and feed her kids by the shep- 
herds' tents (verse 8). In the next scene Solomon seeks 
to win the love of the maiden but she parries his compli- 
ments by speaking of her shepherd lover and by giving 
reminiscences of the rural scenes from which she has been 
taken. In the next scene she speaks to the court ladies 
recounting to them an incident in her past life in which 
she praises the kindness and love of her betrothed : 

"As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, 
So is my beloved among the sons. 
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, 
And his fruit was sweet to my taste. 
He brought me to the banqueting-house, 
And his banner over me was love." 

She reminds the court ladies that love is an affection that 
comes spontaneously and should not be aroused artifi- 
cially. She makes an impassioned plea to them to let 
innocent, natural love have its way. This plea is made 
three times in the drama and may well be taken to 
express its central idea : 

"I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
By the roes and the hinds of the field, 
That ye stir not up nor awaken love 
Until it please." 

In the first scene of the second act (11:8-17), the 
Shulamite tells of a visit which her lover paid to her in 
her rural home in the springtime, and of the beautiful 
spring song he sang to her : 

"My beloved spake and said unto me, 
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 
For, lo, the winter is past; 
The rain is over and gone; 
The flowers appear on the earth; 
The time of the singing of birds is come, 
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 
The fig tree ripeneth her green figs, 
And the vines are in blossom; 
They give forth their fragrance. 
Arise, my love, my fair one, come away. 



THE SONG OF SONGS 169 

my dove, that art in the clefts of the re- 
in the covert of the steep place, 
Let me see thy countenance, 
Let me hear thy vo: 
For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely." 

She reaffirms her devotion to her lover and wishes that 
the end of their separation may be near : 

"My beloved is mine, and I am his: 
He feedeth his nock among the lilies. 
Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away. 
Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart 
Upon the mountains of Bether." 

In the second scene of this act the Shularaite narrates 
a dream which she has had since she has been with the 
royal company. She had seemed to go through the city 
in search of her absent lover and to her joy she found 
him. The dream reflects her waking feelings and the 
recital of it to the ladies of the chorus is the poet's 
method of making known her emotions. This scene 
closes appropriately with a repetition of the appeal to the 
daughters of Jerusalem : 

"I adjure you. ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
By the roes and by the hinds of the field, 
That ye stir not up, nor awaken love 
Until it please.*' 

The scene now changes (act 3. sc. 1) . Solomon and his 
court have come back to Jerusalem, bringing the beauti- 
ful Shulamite maiden with them. He will cure her of 
her love for the shepherd by separation ; besides he will 
dazzle her with the grand ceremony of their entrance 
into Jerusalem so that she may appreciate the honor 
awaiting her if she yields and becomes the king's bride. 
In the second scene of the third act (IV: 1-7), Solomon 
tries to win the maiden by profuse flattery. 

"Behold thou art fair, my love: Behold, thou art fair; 
Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil. 
Thy lips are like a thread of sear let, 
And thy mouth is comely. 
Thou art all fair, my 1 
And there is no spot in thee." 



170 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

The next scene, consisting of the remaining verses of 
chapter four and the first verse of chapter five, presents 
an ideal interview between the Shulamite and her absent 
lover. She recites to the court ladies an imaginary invi- 
tation from her lover and her reply, followed by his 
grateful response. In scene four of this act she relates a 
dream of the past night (V:2-8). While she slept she 
thought she heard the footsteps of her lover outside; 
he bade her open the door ; she delayed ; he went away ; 
she rose up and followed him ; the watchmen took her for 
an evil woman and wounded her. She wakes and finds 
that it was but a fearful dream, yet the memory of it 
haunts her and impels her to make a fresh avowal of her 
love. 

"I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, 

If ye find my love, 

That ye tell him that I am sick of love." 

The first scene of the fourth act (to VI: 3) is a dia- 
logue between the Shulamite and the daughters of Jeru- 
salem respecting her lover. They are surprised at her 
persistent refusal of the king and her unfailing devotion 
to her absent lover, and they question her : 

"What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 
O thou fairest among women? 
What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 
That thou dost so adjure us?" 

She replies in an enraptured description of her lover. 
The portrait is strained, perhaps to us a little crude, but 
we must make allowance for Oriental imagery : 

"My beloved is white and ruddy, 
The chief est among ten thousand. 
His head is as the most fine gold; 
His locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 
His eyes are like doves beside the water-brooks, 
Washed with milk and fitly set. 
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, 
As banks of sweet herbs: 

His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. 
His hands are as rings of gold set with beryl: 
His body is as ivory work overlaid with sapphires. 
His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold. 
His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 



THE SONG OF SONGS 171 

His mouth is most sweet; 

Yea, he is altogether lovely. 

This is my beloved, and this is my friend, 

daughters of Jerusalem," 

This glowing portrait evidently pleases the ladies of the 
court for they ask that they may be permitted to aid her 
in seeking for him. 

In the second scene (VI : 4-13) Solomon again appears 
and renews his attempts to win the affections of the 
Shulamite maiden by praising her beauty and promising 
her the exceptional honor of being made the head of the 
harem, the chief of them all : 

"There are three score queens and four score concubines, 
And virgins without number. 
My dove, my undenled, is but one; 
The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; 
Yea, the queens and the concubines, they praised her." 

The king then recalls the occasion when he first met the 
Shulamite in the nut orchard and repeats the conversa- 
tion which he then heard between her and the ladies of 
the court, beginning with their greeting to her : 

"Who is this that looketh forth as the morning, 
Fair as the moon, 
Clear as the sun, 
Terrible as an army with banner?" 

Scene three (VII: 1-9) gives an account of Solomon's 
request that the beautiful maiden dance before him. As 
she dances he praises her nimble feet, her graceful move- 
ments, and her beautiful form in words of warm effusive- 
ness, hoping by this flattery to win her favor. Her 
answer is the same old reply of unswerving devotion to 
her shepherd lover : 

"I am my beloved's; 
And his desire is toward me. 

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields; 
Let us lodge in the villages; 
Let us go up early to the vineyard; 
Let us see whether the vine hath budded, 
And its blossom is open, 
And the pomegranates are in flower: 
There will I give thee my love. 



172 MASTEKING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

The mandrakes give forth fragrance; 

And at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old 

Which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved." 

We may imagine that she speaks these lines with peculiar 
emphasis as this is her last repulse of the king. She con- 
cludes her answer with the repetition of the refrain of 
the drama : 

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, 
That ye stir not up, nor awaken my love, 
Until it please." 

In the closing scene (act 5, sc. 1) love has won. The 
maiden returns from Jerusalem leaning on the arm of 
her shepherd lover. They are welcomed by the shep- 
herds of Shulem and the Shulamite maiden points out to 
her lover the dear scenes of his early life and of their 
courtship, and sings to him a song of the irresistible 
power of true love : 

"Set me as a seal upon thy heart, 
As a seal upon thy arm: 
For love is stronger than death; 
Jealousy is cruel as the grave; 
The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, 
A very flame of Jehovah. 
Many waters can not quench love, 
Neither can the floods drown it: 

If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, 
He would utterly be contemned." 

The two step-brothers of the Shulamite maiden are pres- 
ent, and looking upon her with suspicion, they speak of 
their former plans for her welfare. She answers them 
declaring that she has fulfilled their best expectations. 
The lover asks for a song and she responds as they go 
hand in hand over the well-remembered hills. 

Comment. 

It will have been seen that the Song lends itself to 
dramatic interpretation although it is true that much of 
the poetry in the book is lyrical in character. There is 
dialogue, action, and character presentation, constituting 
a rudimentary kind of plot. There is not the chronologi- 



THE SONG OF SONGS 173 

cal sequence nor the regular development of the ordinary 
drama ; in fact, in several passages the speakers acquaint 
the hearers with incidents of their previous lives by 
introducing passages supposed to have been spoken at 
times before the drama opens. This is a somewhat 
unusual device ; but any drama must have some devices 
more or less artificial. 

Some critics have thought that the poem is out of place 
in the Bible unless it is given an allegorical meaning. 
But surely it is possible to teach lessons of beauty and 
righteousness without telling the reader over and over 
again that he must not forget the moral of the story. 
That story is worthy which presents well the moral 
forces of life. Here we have a story of the battle 
between love and ambition, and love is put first; it is 
made to come off victor ; so pure love will always be tri- 
umphant over the allurements of vanity, splendor, and 
power. We are shown that genuine love is spontaneous ; 
it can not be purchased ; it can not be quenched by many 
waters. Even King Solomon can not buy love; it is a 
gift of God himself and is, therefore, to be held sacred. 

Of the beautiful poetry of the Song Canon Driver 
writes : ' ' The poetry of the Song is exquisite. The 
movement is graceful and light ; the imagery is beautiful, 
and singularly picturesque, and the author revels among 
the delights of the country; one scene after another is 
brought before us — doves hiding in the clefts of the 
rocks or resting beside the water-brooks, gazelles leaping 
over the mountains or feeding among the lilies, goats 
reclining on the sloping hills of Gilead ; trees with their 
varied foliage ; flowers with bright hues or richly scented 
perfume are ever supplying the poet with fresh picture 
or comparison ; we seem to walk with the shepherd-lover 
himself among the vineyards and fig trees in the balmy 
air of spring, or to see the fragrant, choicely furnished 
garden which the charms of his betrothed called up 
before his imagination." 



BOOKS OUTSIDE THE CANON 



CHAPTER XV 

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 

The word Apocrypha means literally * 'secret' ' or 
"hidden," and was applied first to books or manuscripts 
laid away because they were worn out or were defective. 
Later the term was used to designate books defective in 
orthodoxy, and this is its meaning to-day when applied 
to the non-canonical books of the Old Testament. The 
Hebrews declare that there are only thirty-nine authentic 
books in the Old Testament, and that they were written 
in Hebrew and at a time long before the non-canonical 
ones were written. It is clear that the apocryphal books 
were, with the exception of a few parts, written origi- 
nally in Greek. Altogether there are at least forty apoc- 
ryphal books of the Old Testament, but only fourteen of 
these books and parts of books are accepted to-day by the 
Eoman Catholic Church as belonging to the canonical 
Scriptures. It is evident that these fourteen and a few 
others were ranked as sacred writings in the early cen- 
turies of the Christian era because in the copies of ■ the 
Septuagint Bible dating from the fourth century, these 
apocryphal books are mingled indiscriminately with the 
other books, Second Chronicles being followed by Esdras 
1 and 2 ; Nehemiah, by Tobit and Judith ; and the Song 
of Solomon, by Ecclesiasticus and The Wisdom of Solo- 
mon. The following are the fourteen separate parts of 
the Apocrypha as found in the Roman Catholic canon : 

Esdras 1 : made up mainly of extracts from 2 Chroni- 
cles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Its original part is a legend 
of a trial of wisdom in debate between Zerubbabel and 
two other young men before Darius, king of Per§ia. 

Esdras 2: apocalyptic literature, the message being in 
the form of visions. These visions appeared to Ezra 

177 



178 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

through the medium of the angel Uriel in the thirtieth 
year after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. 

The Book of Tobit: it contains a narrative of the piety, 
misfortunes, and final prosperity of Tobit, an exile in 
Nineveh. 

The Book of Judith: it relates the exploits of Judith, 
a Jewish widow distinguished alike for her beauty, cour- 
age, and devotion to her country. She killed Holof ernes, 
general of Nebuchadnezzar, and freed Bethulia in Judea. 

Additions to the Book of Esther: these consist of six 
chapters, and nine additional verses added to chapter 10. 

The Wisdom of Solomon: Solomon being to the 
ancient Hebrews the representative of all wisdom, the 
author of this book personates Solomon and speaks in his 
name. 

Ecclesiasticus: the Greek title is "The Wisdom of 
Sirach." It is a copious book, rich in its content, 
embracing the whole domain of practical wisdom. 

Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah: this book is 
formed after the model of Jeremiah, and is ascribed to 
his friend Baruch. 

Three additions to the Book of Daniel: the Song of 
the Three Holy Children in the Fiery Furnace ; The His- 
tory of Susanna ; and the Story of Bel and the Dragon. 
The first is found in the third chapter of Daniel and is a 
song of some power and beauty. The two other parts are 
discussed at some length later in this chapter. 

The Prayer of Manasses: this is given as a prayer by 
Manasses, king of Judah, when he was a captive in 
Babylon. 

Maccabees 1: this book is a narrative of the long and 
bloody struggle of the Jews under their Maccabean 
leaders against their Assyrian oppressors. 

Maccabees 2: this book opens with two letters purport- 
ing to have been written by the Jews of Palestine to their 
brethren in Egypt. To these letters is appended an 
epitome of the live books of Jason of Cyrene, containing 
the history of the Maccabean struggle from about 180 
b. c. to 161 b. c. 

The limits of this chapter will not allow a discussion of 
all these books, interesting as they are. But brief 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 179 

accounts will be given of Ecclesiasticus, Susanna, Bel 
and the Dragon, Judith and Tobit. 

ECCLESIASTICUS. 

This book may be said to be intermediate between the 
exclusive Jewish thought and the thought of the Gentile 
world ; intermediate also between sacred and secular lit- 
erature. The date of Ecclesiasticus is about 200 b. o. 
In its structure it is divided into four books ; all four rich 
in thought. There is vigor and vim, a clearness and 
force that is refreshing. The thoughtful and beautiful 
monologue on Wisdom in Ecclesiastes finds a parallel 
here in the preface to the second book. Wisdom is de- 
scribed as the breath of the Most High, as covering the 
earth like a mist, throned in the pillared cloud, moving 
in loneliness over the circling heavens and the bottomless 
abyss, until the Creator bids her take up her tabernacle 
in Jacob. 

In the wisdom literature of the canonical Bible special 
attention is given to the sluggard ; at him a multitude of 
maxims are aimed; but in this book the fool takes the 
place of the sluggard. "Lay not thyself down for a fool 
to tread on." "The heart of fools is in their mouth; 
but the mouth of the wise is in their heart." "He 
that teaches a fool is as one that glueth a potsherd 
together." These are good examples of the terse and 
trenchant sayings of the book. Others are: "Seven 
days are the days of mourning for the dead ; but for a 
fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life ;" "The 
heart of a fool is as a cart wheel and his thoughts like a 
rolling axletree." 

We are taught the evils of pride and vanity : "Glory 
not in the putting on of raiment and exalt not thyself 
in the day of honor." "Commend not a man for his 
beauty, and abhor not a man for his outward appear- 
ance ; the bee is little among such as fly, and her fruit is 
the chief of sweet-meats." 

The proverbs of all nations are full of advice concern- 
ing the use of the tongue. It is said to be the most 
unruly, the most dangerous of all the members of the 



180 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

body. The son of Sirach tells us : " A slip on the pave- 
ment is better than a slip with the tongue ; so the fall of 
the wicked shall come speedily." " A lie is a foul blot in 
a man ; it will be continually in the mouth of the ignor- 
ant." "A thief is better than a man that is continually 
lying." 

"A whisperer defileth his own soul, 
And shall be hated wheresoever he sojourneth." 

"Many have fallen by the edge of the sword; 
Yet not so many as they that have fallen by the tongue." 

There is a very charming sentence about friendship: 
"A faithful friend is a medicine of life." In speaking 
further of friendship the wise man says : ' ' Sweet words 
will multiply a man's friends, and a fair-speaking tongue 
will multiply courtesies. Let those that are at peace 
with thee be many, but thy counselors, one of a 
thousand." 

There are some exquisitely naive suggestions on table 
manners. The one at table is advised not to be greedy, 
not to reach across the table, not to fall over himself in 
the dish when he dips for anything. "Stretch not thy 
hand whithersoever it looketh, and thrust not thyself 
with it into the dish." "Consider thy neighbor's liking 
by thine own." "If thou sittest among many, reach not 
out thy hand before them." "Be first to leave off for 
manner's sake." We are told, too, that it is very bad 
manners to talk while music is going on : " Hinder not 
music ; pour not out talk where there is a performance of 
music." 

The topic of woman is variously treated. The wise 
man assumes a lordly superiority over women in general. 
He considers all women as available but not all equally 
worth having. "A woman will receive any man; but 
one daughter is better than another, ' ' he declares. Still 
he says graceful and good things about woman and her 
influence over man: "Forego not a wise and good wife, 
for her grace is above gold." Yet he charges that "All 
malice is but little to the malice of a woman." Evi- 
dently a woman of few words is to his liking: "As the 
going up a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is a 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 181 

wife full of words to a quiet man"; and yet more 
strongly: "A silent woman is a gift from the Lord/' 
He would encourage her in self-control: "Hast thou 
heard a word ? let it die with thee : be of good courage, it 
will not burst thee." The words on filial duty are par- 
ticularly beautiful : 

My son, help thy father in his old age; and grieve him not as 
long as he iiveth. And if he fail in understanding, have patience 
with him; and dishonor him not while thou art in thy full 
strength. For the relieving of thy father shall not be forgotten; 
and instead of sins it shall be added to build thee up In the 
day of thine affliction it shall remember thee; as fair weather 
upon ice, so shall thy sins also melt away. He that forsaketh 
his father is as a blasphemer; and he that provoketh his mother 
is cursed of the Lord. 

The teachings of this book of wisdom do not square 
with modern ideas of child training. Evidently the son 
of Sirach did not believe in the modern "flowery beds of 
ease" theory of education. Here is his blunt dictum: 
"Bow down his neck in his youth, and beat him on the 
sides while he is a child, lest he wax stubborn and dis- 
obedient unto thee." 

It may not be intentional, but the Bible appears to 
poke fun at the physicians. In II Chronicles XVI : 12, 
we have these words : "And Asa in the thirty and ninth 
year of his reign was diseased in his feet until his disease 
was exceeding great ; yet in his disease he sought not to 
the Lord, but to the physicians." There is a full stop in 
the story and the next paragraph begins: "And Asa 
slept with his fathers." Xo comment is necessary. The 
son of Sirach says, "Honor a physician according to the 
need of him with honors due unto him; for verily the 
Lord hath created him" — as if there were some doubt 
about it. But the most unkindest cut of all is given 
when the wise man is seeking for some peculiar punish- 
ment to inflict upon the very wicked man. This is his 
decree: "He that sinneth before his Maker, let him fall 
into the hands of the physician." 

THE STORY OF SUSANNA 

Daniel is the hero of the History of Susanna. His 
shrewdness discovers a plan to thwart the wicked con- 



182 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

spiracy against the good name and life of Susanna. 
Susanna was the wife of Joacim, a wealthy Babylonian 
Jew, and was a most beautiful woman. Her husband 
had a fair garden adjoining his house, and here she was 
accustomed to walk daily. Two of the ancients of the 
people, who were judges, came regularly to the house of 
Joacim to try the causes that were referred to them. 
They saw the beautiful Susanna go into the garden often, 
and "they were both wounded with her love." At last 
when they found her alone in the garden they made 
shameless proposals to her but she repulsed them in 
scorn. Her outcry brought about the discovery of the 
two elders and they, in order to save themselves, publicly 
accused Susanna of adultery with a young man whom 
they said they found in the garden. She was tried and 
condemned to death. When the time of execution came 
Susanna cried out with a loud voice and said, "0, ever- 
lasting God, that knowest the secrets and knowest all 
things before they be, thou knowest that they have borne 
false witness against me, and behold I must die ; whereas 
I never did such things as these men have maliciously 
invented against me." 

Then Daniel appeared and declared to the people that 
if they would return again to the place of judgment he 
would show them that Susanna had been condemned by 
false witnesses. They all returned and Daniel demanded 
that the two witnesses should be separated for the exam- 
ination. He examined them thus separately and found 
that their stories did not agree. So Susanna's life was 
saved and the two elders were put to death. It is de- 
clared that from that day forth Daniel had great repu- 
tation among the people. 

BEL AND THE DRAGON 

The story of Bel and the Dragon is another account 
of Daniel and his wisdom, and his success in the detec- 
tion of deceit and wrong. The scene is laid in the days 
of Cyrus the Great of Persia, when he ruled in Babylon. 
The frauds practiced by the priests of the god Bel are 
not very deep or mysterious. The story is no doubt 
founded upon facts as the deception practiced here is 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 183 

one of the simplest of many that the priests of the old 
religions made use of to mystify the people in their 
ignorance. 

King Cyrus and the Babylonians worshiped a great 
idol, Bel, and presented to him every day offerings of 
twelve great measures of fine flour, forty sheep and six 
vessels of wine. Daniel refused to worship this god and 
told Cyrus that it was clay within and brass without, 
and did never eat or drink anything. So the king called 
together the priests and told them that unless they could 
show him who devoured these gifts their lives should 
pay the penalty. But if they could certify that Bel did 
really eat the offerings, then Daniel should die. So the 
tables were covered with offerings and the temple door 
was shut and sealed with the king's seal. 

In the morning Daniel and the king went to the temple 
and found the seals unbroken. As soon as they had 
opened the door, the king looked upon the table and 
cried with a loud voice, " Great art thou, Bel, and with 
thee is no deceit at all!" Then Daniel laughed and 
holding the king back from going in, said, ''Behold now 
the pavement and mark well whose footsteps are these." 
For Daniel had before this time caused the floor of the 
temple to be strewn with fine ashes, so that when the 
seventy priests and their families came into the temple 
by a private door, as was their custom, and went about 
helping themselves to all the good things presented, they 
made tracks on the floor everywhere. When the king 
saw the footsteps and knew that he had been deceived, 
he was very angry. He put the priests to death and 
delivered over the idol and temple into the hands of 
Daniel and he destroyed them. 

In the same place there was a great dragon which the 
Babylonians worshiped. Daniel told the king that he 
could slay this dragon without sword or staff, and the 
king gave him leave. Then Daniel took pitch and fat 
and hair, and seethed them together and made them into 
lumps which he put into the dragon's mouth; and when 
they were swollen the dragon burst asunder; and Dan- 
iel said: "Lo, these be the gods ye worship.' ' And 
when the people learned of all thesa doings of Daniel 



184 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

and that the king's sympathy was with him, they de- 
manded that he should be given into their hands else 
they would destroy the king. So the king gave up Dan- 
iel to them and they cast him into a den where there 
were seven lions, and there he remained six days. Now 
there was a man in Jewry whose name was Habbacuc 
who one day was taking dinner out to the reapers in the 
field, and the angel of the Lord took him by the hair of 
his head and set him down in Babylon over the den of 
lions, and he gave the food to Daniel. On the seventh 
day the king came to look in the den. When he found 
Daniel alive he was greatly surprised. He drew him 
out and thrust his accusers into the den, where they 
were devoured at once. 

THE STORY OF JUDITH 

The story of Judith is somewhat like that of Jael. the 
slayer of Sisera, though there is more of the heroic in 
the latter story. Judith, the heroine, is a much more 
admirable character than Jael, the wife of Heber. She 
shows the same spirit that has immortalized Joan of Arc. 
A Spartan mother said to her son who complained that 
his sword was too short, "Add a step to it." "Return 
with your shield or on it," said another Spartan mother 
to the boy she was sending to the field. There is no sex 
in heroism, Among the hundreds of noble heroines 
whose names adorn the pages of history Judith deserves 
a high place. 

In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchodonosor, 
who reigned in Nineveh, the great city, he sent out a 
proclamation that the countries to the west should send 
troops to him to assist him in his war against Arphaxad, 
the king of Ecbatane. Some of the western countries 
refused to respond to this levy. So when the king 
had defeated Arphaxad he sent his armies against the 
western nations to punish them for their disobedience. 
These armies he put under the charge of his chief cap- 
tain, Holofernes, who attacked the city of Bethulia 
where the Israelites were shut up for safety. He soon 
cut off their supplies and left them destitute. So great 
was their distress that the people began to clamor for 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 185 

peace with the Assyrians, declaring that they had rather 
die by the sword than of starvation and thirst. The 
governors of the city promised the people that if they 
would agree to hold out five days longer they should 
have their wish, unless help should come in the mean- 
time. Now when Judith, who was a widow of goodly 
countenance and beautiful to behold, heard the promises 
made to the people, she called together the rulers of the 
city and said, "Hear me, and I will do a thing which 
shall go throughout all generations to the children of our 
nation. Ye shall stand this night in the gate, and I will 
go forth with my waiting woman, and within the days 
that ye have promised to deliver the city to our enemies 
the Lord will visit Israel by my hand. But inquire ye 
not of mine act; for I will not declare it unto you, till 
the things be finished that I do." 

So Judith went forth from the city to the Assyrian 
camp having put on all her ornaments and decked herself 
bravely to allure the eyes of all the men that should see 
her. When she reached the camp of Holofernes she told 
the guards that she had fled from Bethulia to save her 
life, for she felt sure that the Hebrews would be defeated. 
So beautiful was she and such an impression did she 
make that the soldiers formed a triumphal procession to 
conduct her to the tent of their general. Holofernes set 
aside for her a lovely tent close to his own and here she 
remained four days except that she had received per- 
mission to go beyond the Assyrian camp toward Bethulia 
every night at midnight to offer prayer. This she did in 
preparation for the strategy which she was to use later. 

On the fourth day Holofernes invited Judith to a 
feast in his tent. At the end of the feast they two were 
left alone in the tent. Holofernes was then so drunk 
that he was lying on the bed in a stupor. The statement 
is made that he had drunk more that day than he had 
ever drunk in any day in all his life. Judith had com- 
manded her maid to stand outside the tent to await her 
coming for their journey to the accustomed place of 
prayer. Then she seized the sword of Holofernes which 
was hanging at the head of his bed, took hold of the hair 
of his head, and praying for strength, smote twice upon 



186 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 

his neck and cut off his head. She tumbled his body- 
down from the bed, put his head in the bag in which she 
was accustomed to carry her food, and left the camp as if 
to pray at the accustomed place. But she did not stop 
to pray; she went on to the city of Bethulia and with 
great joy informed the rulers of the city of what she had 
done. The Israelites formed their companies for attack 
and at once fell upon the Assyrian camp. The Assyri- 
ans resisted bravely at first but when they went to rouse 
their general that he might lead them, they found his 
headless body on the floor of the tent ; then panic seized 
them and they fled in disorder and there followed a great 
slaughter. 

After the victory all the people of Israel came unto 
Judith, blessed her with one accord, and said unto her, 

Thou art the exaltation of Jerusalem, thou art the great glory 
of Israel, thou art the rejoicing of our nation. 

Then all the women of Israel ran together to see 
Judith and blessed her and made a dance among them for 
her. They put a garland of olives upon her and her 
maid that was with her; then she went before all the 
people in the dance, leading all the women ; and all the 
men of Israel followed in their armor with garlands and 
with songs in their mouths. 

The Book of Tobit 

The scene of the action in Tobit is in Nineveh. The 
characters are Tobit, a pious Hebrew, Anna, his wife, 
Tobias their son, a young man Raphael, an angel; 
Eaguel, Tobit ? s cousin of Media, Sarah his daughter, a 
beautiful maiden, and Edna his wife. Ruth is a story of 
great sweetness and simple power; Esther is a thrilling 
story that grips the attention ; but Tobit is a tale which, 
in its naive simplicity, surpasses them both. It is a story 
of marvelous providences, supernatural happenings, and 
angelic ministrations; of faithful devotion to religious 
duty, and simple, loving family life. 

The first part of the story is told by the father, Tobit, 
with simple profuseness. He had always been obedient 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 187 

to the laws of his people, and now that he is a captive in 
a foreign land he does not forget his religious obligations 
nor his duty to his poor brethren. He risks his life time 
and again by burying those of his brethren who have 
fallen victims to the cruel tyrants under whom they live. 
One night while he was sleeping in the open air because 
of uncleanness from burying a murdered brother He- 
brew, his eyes were blinded by sparrow's dung falling 
from the tree under which he slept. His blindness ren- 
ders him helpless and he must depend upon his nephew 
and the labor of his wife Anna for his support. Tobit 
in his helplessness becomes irritable and quarrels with 
Anna who reproaches him declaring that his blindness 
has come upon him on account of his sins. He is deeply 
humiliated by such accusations and prays that he may 
die ; but before he leaves the world he must settle up his 
affairs and he remembers that once when he was an exile 
from Nineveh he left a sum of money in a city of Media 
in charge of a friend. This he must have ; so he calls to 
him his son Tobias and, after giving him the customary 
fatherly advice, directs him to go to Media to get this 
sum of money. They look for a guide, and a young man 
calling himself Azarias offers his services. To this guide 
Tobit commits his son. 

On their way the two travelers stop by the river Tigris 
and when the young man goes down to the river to wash 
himself a great fish leaps up out of the water and at- 
tempts to swallow the youth. But Azarias, who was 
really the angel Raphael, cried to him to grapple the fish 
boldly and cast it out on the land. This he did ; and at 
the command of the angel he cut the fish open and took 
out its heart, liver, and gall, and preserved them for 
future use. Tobias was curious to know the value of 
these parts of the fish which he had preserved; the 
angel's reply was that a smoke made from the heart and 
liver would drive away any evil spirit ; and that the gall 
was a certain cure for blinded eyes. 

When the two came near the town of Rages, the angel 
told Tobias that he was going to find a wife for him there, 
Sarah the daughter of a kinsman. Now Tobias was not 
very well pleased with the idea of marrying Sarah, for he 



188 MASTERING THE BOOKS OP THE BIBLE 

had heard that she had already married seven husbands 
and that each one in turn was found dead in the bride- 
chamber. He pleaded that he was the only son of his 
father and did not like to run such a great risk. The 
explanation of the violent death of the seven husbands 
was that a devil was in love with Sarah and killed every 
man that married her. 

At last the two travelers arrived at the home of Raguel 
and were received most kindly. The story sets forth in a 
very charmng way the greetings given the visitors, the 
inquiries about the homes of the young men, and about 
Tobit and Anna in Ninevah. Few stories have more 
natural touches of love, sympathy, and pathos. "When 
Tobias looked upon Sarah he was so delighted with her 
that he eagerly whispered to Azarias that he was per- 
fectly willing to run the risks that had so frightened him 
at first and had proved so fatal to the unfortunate seven, 
and asked him to speak to the family of his wishes. All 
arrangements were made in a short time and they were 
married that night. It was Sarah's fond hope that 
Tobias would redeem her from the power of the evil 
spirit that tormented her. Azarias instructed Tobias 
that when he went to the bridal chamber he should put 
the heart and liver of the fish on the incense plate and 
make a smoke of them. He was obedient to his instruc- 
tions and when the devil smelled the smoke he fled into 
the uttermost parts of Egypt and remained there, and 
Sarah was freed from his malignant power. 

Now, Raguel, Sarah's father, had become so accus- 
tomed to digging a grave and burying a victim on the 
morning after each wedding that he went out this morn- 
ing and digged the eighth grave. He expected to bury 
Tobias alongside his seven other sons-in-law. But the 
maidservant sent on a mission of inquiry, brought the 
welcome news that Tobias was alive and well ; and with 
great satisfaction Raguel filled up the new-made grave. 
After the wedding feast was over Tobias and Sarah and 
Azarias all went back to Nineveh to the home of Tobit. 
Tobit and Anna had become very much alarmed at the 
protracted stay of Tobias and so were overjoyed when 
they saw him coming. As soon as he had embraced his 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 189 

father he applied a portion of the gall of the fish which 
he had preserved, to his blinded eyes and they were 
restored to sight at once. Tobit was so pleased with the 
results of the journey of Tobias that he offered Azarias 
the guide, a large reward for his services. Then it was 
that Azarias declared that he was Eaphael, one of the 
seven holy angels, and had undertaken this service 
because Tobit had shown himself to be a pious and devout 
man. The father and son were so troubled when they 
knew that they were in the presence of an angel that they 
fell upon their faces, and when they arose the angel was 
gone. Then Tobit uttered this prayer of rejoicing: 

"Let my soul bless God the great King, 
For Jerusalem shall be builded with 
•Sapphires and emeralds and precious stones; 
The walls and towers and battlements with pure gold. 
And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with 
Beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir, 
And all her streets shall say, Hallelujah, and give praise, 
Saying, Blessed is God, which hath exalted thee forever." 



APPENDIX 



SECTION 1 

GEOGRAPHY OF PAl/ESTINE 

In connection with his reading every student of the Bible 
should study a map of Palestine. Fairly good maps may be 
found in most copies of the Bible, but the careful student 
may desire one that is larger and more satisfactory. The 
location of a great many places mentioned in the narratives 
is a matter of conjecture because so many of the ancient 
landmarks were obliterated centuries ago. It will be found, 
therefore, that maps differ in their location of the division 
lines of the tribal possessions, in the location of towns and of 
other places of interest. This is the case because too many 
makers of maps rely to a considerable extent upon con- 
jecture in locating places that are obscurely referred to in 
the text. But the maps usually found in Bibles are accurate 
enough for all practical purposes, and are invaluable aids in 
getting clear and definite mental pictures of the places and 
events described. Before the student is able to read intelli- 
gently his knowledge of the geography of Palestine should 
enable him to locate the countries which lie on its borders; 
the chief mountains, as Mt. Hermon, on the northern border; 
Mt. Carmel, near the coast; Mt. Tabor, Mt. Gilboa, Mt. Ebal, 
and Mt. Gerizim, near the center; Mt. Pisgah and Mt. Nebo, 
northeast of the Dead Sea; and Mt. Sinai or Horeb, in 
Arabia. He should be able to locate the chief towns, also, 
as Dan, Jezreel, Dothan, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Bethel, 
Jericho, Gibeon, Mizpah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza, and 
Hebron. He should be able, too, to locate the homes of the 
different tribes, as Reuben, Gad, and the half -tribe Manas- 
seh, east of the Jordan; Ephraim, in the center of the west- 
Jordan country, with Manasseh on its northern and Dan 
and Benjamin on its southern border; Judah, south of Ben- 
jamin, and Asher and Naphtali, in the far north. 

If by the name Palestine we mean the land of Israel's 
history, it is not possible to think of fixed boundaries; but 
the traditional boundaries are pretty well defined. Palestine 
is a country of southwestern Asia, comprising the southern 
portion of Syria, and bounded on the west by the Mediter- 

193 



194 APPENDIX 

ranean Sea, on the north by the mountain ranges of Le- 
banon, and on the south and east by the desert. The area is 
10,000 square miles, West Palestine having 6,000 and East 
Palestine, 4,000 square miles. Its length from the source 
of the Jordan to Beersheba is 143 miles; to the city of 
Kadesh Barnea, 187 miles. The width varies from 112 miles 
at the south to 47 miles at the north. According to elevation 
and character of surface, Palestine is divided into four re- 
gions or strips running north and south: the Maritime Plain, 
the Central Range, the Jordan Valley, and the Eastern Range. 
The first is a plain along the coast from five to twenty-five 
miles wide. It is of marked fertility and includes the plains 
of Esdraelon, Sharon, and Philistia. Adjoining the Phil- 
istine plain is the Shephelah, a hilly region which curves 
round this plain from Gaza to Jaffa like a great amphitheater, 
cut by three or four great gaps. It is a region of unusual 
interest and importance in the history of Palestine and has 
an elevation of from 500 to 1,500 feet above the level of the 
sea. 

The Central Range, the backbone of the country, is really 
a continuous range of hills and mountains, though broken by 
cross-valleys. In the north are the uplands of Galilee, in the 
center, the hills and plains of Samaria, and in the south, the 
lofty highlands of Judea. 

From the Central Range the descent east to the Jordan 
Valley is very rapid. This valley is really a deep gorge, the 
deepest depression in the world. The Jordan river takes its 
rise at the foot of Mt. Hermon, 705 feet above the level of 
the sea, and flowing through Lake Merom and the Sea of 
Genessaret empties into the Dead Sea. The length of the 
channel from its source to its mouth is 250 miles, although 
a straight course is only 135 miles. The fountain spring of the 
Jordan is 705 feet above, while the Sea of Genessaret is 682 
feet, and the Dead Sea, 1,292 feet below, sea level. The 
Jordan Valley varies in width, character of surface, and fer- 
tility. In the north it is four miles wide and very fertile, 
in the last part of its course it is fifteen miles wide, and 
alkaline and arid. The Dead Sea basin is but the continuation 
of the Jordan cleft, in fact, its deepest part. It is forty- 
seven miles long and ten miles wide, and has a maximum 
depth of 1,300 feet. To the east of the Jordan Valley rises 
the east- Jordan plateau comprising the countries Edom, Moab, 
Gilead, and Bashan. This plateau is about 150 miles long 
from Mt. Hermon on the north to the south end of the Dead 
Sea; its width from the edge of the Jordan Valley to the 
edge of the desert, varies from thirty to eighty miles. The 



GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE 195 

elevation averages 2,000 feet above the level of the sea; so it 
has a temperate climate. This region varies greatly in soil 
and features but is in general hilly, well watered, and well 
adapted to grazing. 

Palestine is a land of great extremes in climate and natural 
features. From the north to the south there is a difference 
of elevation of 10,468 feet, Mt. Hermon in the north having 
a height of 9,166 feet and the Dead Sea being 1,292 feet 
below sea level. There is every kind of climate from the 
sub-tropical of Jericho to the sub-Alpine of Lebanon. From 
Mt. Carmel may be seen at one sweep all the intervening 
climatic steps — the sands and plains of the coast, the wheat 
fields of Esdraelon, the oaks and sycamores of Galilee, the 
pines, peaks, and eternal snows of Hermon. In its physical 
configuration Palestine is an epitome of the whole world. 
The great variety of climate and natural features produces 
a corresponding diversity in the plant and animal life. There 
are said to be 113 species of mammals, 348 of birds, 91 of 
reptiles and amphibia, and more than 3,000 kinds of flowering 
plants. 

In many other ways Palestine is a land of contrasts. While 
it is almost entirely shut on 2 from the world outside the great 
highways of the East pass through it. On the east and south 
it is bordered by the desert like a great wall of insulation, on 
the west by the almost unnavigable Mediterranean which offers 
no great harbor on the whole coast of Palestine. Only on 
the north is the land accessible though even there the moun- 
tains reach across like a natural bar. Within the land, also, 
almost everywhere are mountains with deep, abrupt gorges, 
making intercourse very difficult. This isolation naturally 
developed individuality among the people and shielded them 
from the influences of that great leveler, commerce. 

But that nation which has a great work to do in the world 
must not only be protected from a weakening cosmopolitan- 
ism, it must be preserved from influences that would make it 
narrow, stubborn, and inhospitable. Israel was preserved 
from this danger, for while the land was insulated, it was at 
the same time a great highway of world commerce. Indeed 
all the ancient highways of trade ran through Palestine: 
That primitive one from the Nile to the Euphrates, running 
the entire length of Palestine and touching at Damascus; the 
one connecting Tyre with the Arabian Gulf; another from 
beyond Mesopotamia passing through Damascus, the plain of 
Esdraelon, Samaria, Jerusalem, Beersheba, and on to Egypt; 
and still that other one from Elath, on the Red Son, running 
north through Moab, Ammon, and Gilead to Damascus. 



196 APPENDIX 

Thus the inhabitants of Palestine were guaranteed the undis- 
turbed development of their individuality, while they caught 
glimpses of the myriad-hued world as it swept past them in 
caravans of commerce and armies of conquest. 



SECTION 2 

A BRIEF OUTLINE OF HEBREW HISTORY 

Hebrew history before the Christian era may be divided 
into nine general periods: (1) the period of the Patriarchs; 

(2) the period of the Judges ( 1037) ; (3) the United 

Kingdom (1037-937) ; (4) the Divided Kingdom (937-586) ; 
(5) the period of the Exile (586-538); (6) the Persian 
period (538-332) ; (7) the Greek period (332-164) ; (8) the 
Maccabean period (164-63) ; (9) the Roman period (63 B. c. 
-400 A.D.). 

1. The period of the Patriarchs can not be limited by any 
exact dates ; but about 1500 b. c. a party of emigrants from 
Mesopotamia set out for Palestine under the leadership of 
Abraham who had, a few years before, emigrated with his 
father Terah from Chaldea. This pioneer hero, by his life, 
established such standards of honor, righteousness, and faith 
that his achievements have become the permanent possession 
of the world and material for the ideals of the multitude of 
his descendants. He was succeeded in leadership by his son 
Isaac, Isaac by Jacob, and Jacob in turn by Joseph. The 
long period of bondage in Egypt to which the Hebrews were 
subjected after the time of Joseph was ended by Moses. His 
work changed the character of the Hebrew commonwealth 
and ushered in the regime of the Judges. 

2. The period of the Judges extended to the organization of 
the Kingdom under Saul. This may be called the age of 
heroes. As men were needed they were raised up; for there 
was an opportunity for the strongest and the fittest to come 
to the front, such men as Othneil, Ehud, Gideon, Jephthah, 
Samson, Samuel. These judges were military dictators with 
religious authority, a sort of union of the warrior and the 
religious reformer. The nation was unorganized and "every 
man did that which was right in his own eyes." 

3. The establishment of the Kingdom was not the result of 
a sudden impulse. After Gideon's successful campaigns as 
judge, the people wanted him to be king; Abimelech tried to 
assume kingly authority; and many judges set up a semi- 
royal state in imitation of the rulers of surrounding nations. 



OUTLINE OF HEBREW HISTORY 197 

The example of other peoples, worldly ambition, and their 
satisfactory experiences under the wise, strong, and steady 
rule of Samuel, convinced the Hebrews that they ought to 
have a king. Saul was chosen king and ruled with indifferent 
success. David succeeded him, extended the kingdom, and 
gave strength and stability to the government. Under Solo- 
mon the Kingdom attained to great splendor outwardly, but 
within were the seeds of revolt. 

4. The death of Solomon was followed by the revolt of 
Jeroboam and the division of the Kingdom. The people had 
petitioned Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor for relief 
from the burdens of taxation brought upon them by the splen- 
dor and extravagance of the government of Solomon. His an- 
swer to their petition was both foolish and insulting. So the 
northern tribes threw off their allegiance and set up a new 
kingdom with Jeroboam as their ruler. The northern king- 
dom was named Israel, the southern, Judah. The exact lines 
of division are not known, but in the southern kingdom were 
the old tribe of Judah and parts of two or three other 
tribes, while the remainder of the people adhered to the 
northern kingdom. The capital of the southern kingdom was 
Jerusalem, of the northern kingdom, Shechem and Tirza, and 
later Samaria. The government of Israel continued two hun- 
dred and sixteen years under nine dynasties of kings. Judah 
lasted one hundred and thirty years longer and was ruled 
by descendants of King David in direct succession, with the 
exception of the time of Athaliah's usurpation. 

5. Israel was conquered and the people carried into cap- 
tivity in the year 721 b. c. Judah was overcome and the 
people taken into captivity in 586. Israel was carried off by 
the Assyrians under Sargon; Judah by the Chaldeans under 
Nebuchadnezzar. The people of Israel never returned to their 
native land; but numbers of the people of Judah came back 
and lived as a nation for many years, though the country 
was subject to foreign rulers during most of its history. They 
went into exile a nation, they returned a church; deprived 
of political power, they developed their literature and codi- 
fied their laws. Their exile changed them in many ways. 
They lost their language and many of their habits and char- 
acteristics. They were changed from farmers to merchants 
and traders. Not all of the exiled Jews returned to Pales- 
tine. More than half of them remained in foreign lands and 
formed "Ghettos" in the cities of the ancient world. These 
expatriated people were later called the "Jews of the Dis- 
persion," or the "Grecian Jews." 

6. The Persian period was an experiment of civic life for 



198 APPENDIX 

a subject people in their own land. They rebuilt their cap- 
ital and its temple, and lived under the rule of a Persian vice- 
roy, who was sometimes one of their own princes. In this 
period Ezra promulgated a new edition of the law, Nehemiah 
built the walls of Jerusalem, relieved the poor from oppres- 
sive financial burdens, and suppressed marriages with for- 
eigners. 

7. Through the conquests of Alexander the Great, Judah 
came under Greek rule. The Ptolemies of Alexandria held 
control for over a century. They exercised both a political 
and an intellectual influence. Alexandria became a great 
center of Jewish thought and study, and constant intercourse 
with Jerusalem strengthened Judaism in both regions. In the 
year 203 b. c. Egyptian gave way to Syrian control under 
Antiochus III. This change of rulers brought to the Jews a 
change of treatment. The Syrian rulers undertook to com- 
pel them to renounce their religion. The temple was dese- 
crated and left to fall in ruins, and the Jewish worshippers 
were tortured and slain in one of the most cruel persecutions 
of all history. Because of the loyalty of the Jews to their 
religion under the most inhuman persecutions, Antiochus de- 
termined to exterminate the whole nation. But the cruel 
oppression of the Syrians caused a new epoch of heroism to 
rise upon Israel. 

8. The Maccabean period was a period of revolt against 
Assyrian oppression and cruelty. A noble priest Mat- 
tathias, in the year 167 b. c, unfurled the banner of inde- 
pendence and revolted from the Assyrian yoke. Five years 
later his son and successor, the great Judas Maccabaeus, 
recovered Jerusalem, purified the temple, and restored the 
ancient religion. In the year 141 b. C. Jewish liberty was 
formally recognized, and the Maccabean princes ruled for a 
time over an independent state. 

9. In the year 63 b. c. Pompey the Great made Syria a 
Roman province with Judea as a subordinate part of the 
province. Thus Palestine, with other lands, became an in- 
tegral part of the great Roman empire. In the years that 
followed there were revolts, but the Jews never gained a 
vestige of their former political freedom. Their condition 
remained unchanged during the first four centuries of the 
Christian era. 



CHRONOLOGY OF BOOKS 199 

CHRONOLOGY OF BOOKS 
SECTION 3 

THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AS ARRANGED IN 
HEBREW CHRONOLOGY 

I. The Beginnings. 

1. The beginnings of the human race. — Genesis I-XI. 

2. The beginnings of the chosen people. — Genesis 

XII-L. 

II. A Time of Testing and Trial. 

1. The escape from bondage. — Exodus. 

2. The discipline of the wilderness. — Numbers. 

3. The struggles of the conquest. — Joshua. 

4. Striving to find the right way. — Judges, Ruth. 

III. Unity, Growth, and Prosperity. 

1. Seeking unity in organization and leadership. — 1 

Samuel. 

2. The United Kingdom under David. — 2 Samuel. 

3. The United Kingdom under Solomon. — 1 Kings, 

I-XI. 

IV. Division and Decline. 

1. The Northern Kingdom. 

(1) Varying fortunes of the northern kingdom 
through 216 years under twenty kings. — 1 
Kings XII-2 Kings XVIII. 

(2) The voices of the prophets in instruction, 
prophecy, warning, and denunciation: 

Elijah (cir. 876) — The accusing prophet, a man 
of the desert. 1 Kings XVII-2 Kings II. 

Elisha (cir. 854) — The sympathetic prophet, a man 
among the people. 2 Kings II-XIII. 

Amos (cir. 750) — The shepherd prophet who (in 
the time of Jeroboam II) denounced the pros- 
perous corruption of the kingdom. Book of 
Amos. 

Hosea (cir. 750) — A prophet who proclaimed 
God's unquenchable love for Israel. Book of 
Hosea. 



200 APPENDIX 

2. The Southern Kingdom — Judah. 

(1) Victories and defeats of Judah through a pe- 
riod of 389 years, under twenty-two rulers, 
with government usually stable and the people 

loyal. 1 Kings XIV-2 Kings. 

(2) The voices of the Prophets: 

Isaiah (cir. 740-690) — The renowned prophet who 
was a great statesman, a preacher of right- 
eousness, and a great optimist proclaiming the 
gospel of hope. Book of Isaiah I-XXXIX. 

Micah (cir. 720-708) — The prophet who in the 
time of Isaiah, from the standpoint of the 
peasants, denounced the cruelty and oppres- 
sion of the rulers, priests, and prophets. 
Book of Micah. 

Zephaniah (cir. 630-605) — A prophet who lived 
in the early days of Josiah and denounced 
the corrupt worship and the social injustice 
of the time. Book of Zephaniah. 

Nahum (cir. 625) — A prophet of the latter days of 
Josiah's reign who pronounced the doom of 
Nineveh. Book of Nahum. 

Habakkuk (cir. 605) — A prophet of the latter 
days of Josiah who denounced the cruelty, 
injustice, and idolatry of the Chaldeans who 
were to be God's instrument for punishing 
Judah, a people better than themselves. Book 
of Habakkuk. 

Jeremiah (cir. 626-586) — A fearless preacher of 
truth who lived amid the stirring events of 
Josiah's reign, of the capture of Jerusalem 
and the deportation of the captives. Book of 
Jeremiah, 

V. The Captivity of Judah. 

1. With the Exile there came a break in the historical 

narratives of the Old Testament, but the period 
gave rise to several books of prophecy. 

2. The Voices of the Prophets: 

Lamentations (cir. 540) — Prophecies accredited to 
Jeremiah. They give descriptions of the sack 
of the city of Jerusalem, of the miserable es- 
tate of the exiles, and make appeals for de- 
liverance and for vengeance on the oppressors. 
Book of Lamentations. 



CHRONOLOGY OF BOOKS 201 

Obadiah (cir. 586) — A prophet who delivers bitter 
denunciations on Edom for its ill treatment 
of the Jews in the ruin of Judah. Book of 
Obadiah. 

Ezekiel (cir. 592-570) — A young contemporary of 
Jeremiah who represents the transition from 
the prophet to the scribe or theologian of later 
days. In captivity himself, he first tried to 
destroy the false hopes of his fellow exiles 
in their return, but after the destruction of 
Jerusalem he proclaimed the promise of a more 
glorious kingdom. Book of Ezekiel. 

The Second Isaiah (cir. 546-539)— The "great un- 
known" prophet who sounded a note of hope 
in the closing years of the Exile. The book is 
the culmination of Old Testament teaching and 
an approach to gospel revelation. Book of 
Isaiah XL-LXVI. 

VI. The Return from the Exile (cir. 536-458). 

1. The history of the return and the building of the 

city and temple, and the instituting of many 
social reforms. Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 

2. Esther — A book written probably about 350 b. c, 

but the events of which belong to the years 
soon after the return from exile. It is gen- 
erally regarded as an allegory with a basis of 
historical fact, and is designed to encourage 
the Jews by showing how God protects his 
people and destroys their enemies. 

3. The Voices of the Prophets: 

Haggai (cir. 520) and Zechariah (cir. 520-518) — 
Two prophets who were commissioned to arouse 
the Jews to greater energy in rebuilding the 
temple. It is promised that the new temple 
shall be more glorious than that of Solomon. 
Books of Haggai and Zechariah. 

Malachi (cir. 460-430) — A prophet who is inter- 
ested particularly in the gifts and dues for the 
maintenance of the service of the temple, and 
the priesthood, showing clearly the transition 
from prophet to priest. Book of Malachi. 

Joel (cir. 350) — A prophet who proclaims the com- 
ing of the day of the Lord as a season of 
terrible calamities from which Judah must be 
delivered by repentance; and this repentance 



202 APPENDIX 

must be shown in a formal way, by weeping, 
fasting, and praying — other proofs of the 
change to formalism. Book of Joel. 
Jonah (cir. 350) — This book is not a prophecy but 
an anonymous narrative which should prob- 
ably be interpreted as a protest against the 
narrowness and bitterness of the spirit of Judah 
in this age. It teaches the wideness of God's 
mercy and would have Jonah learn the lesson 
of sympathy for other men and nations. Book 
of Jonah. 



LIST OF STORIES 
SECTION 4 

LIST OF STORIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 

1. The Creation, Genesis I-II, 3. 

2. The Garden of Eden, Genesis II, 4-III. 

3. Story of Cain and Abel, Genesis IV, 1-15. 

4. The Story of the Flood, Genesis VI, 5-IX, 17. 

5. The Tower of Babel, Genesis XI, 1-9. 

6. The Cull of Abraham, Genesis XI, 27-XII, 9. 

7. Abraham and Lot, Genesis XIII-XIV- 

8. The story of Hagar and Ishmael, Genesis XVI-XXI, 

8-21. 

9. The Covenant with Abraham, Genesis XVII. 

10. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis XVIII- 

XIX. 

11. The Offering of Isaac, Genesis XXII, 1-19. 

12. The Wooing of Rebekah, Genesis XXIV. 

13. The Story of Esau and Jacob, Genesis XXV, 19-XXX. 

14. Joseph and His Brethren, Genesis XXXVII; XXXIX- 

XLVII. 

15. The Death of Jacob and Joseph, Genesis XLVIII-L. 

16. Early Life of Moses, Exodus I-II. 

17. The Call of Moses, Exodus III-IV. 

18. The Oppression of the Israelites, Exodus V-VI. 

19. The Ten Plagues, Exodus VI-XII. 

20. Institution of The Passover, Exodus XII, 42-XIII, 16. 

21. The Passage of the Red Sea, Exodus XIII, 17-XIV. 

22. The Giving of the Ten Commandments, Exodus XIX- 

XX, 21. 



LIST OF STORIES 203 

23. Incident of the Golden Calf, Exodus XXXII. 

24. The Attempt to Enter into Canaan, Numbers XIII-XIV. 

25. The Story of Balak and Balaam, Numbers XXII-XXIV. 

26. The Death of Moses, Deuteronomy XXXIV. 

27. Rahab and the Spies, Joshua II. 

28. Crossing the Jordan, Joshua III-IV. 

29. The Siege of Jericho, Joshua VI. 

30. Joshua at Gibeon, Joshua X. 

31. The Death of Joshua, Joshua XXIII-XXIV. 

32. The Defeat and Death of Sisera, Judges IV-V. 

33. The Deeds of Gideon, Judges VI-VII-VIII. 

34. The Story of Abimelech and Jotham, Judges IX. 

35. The Deeds and Vow of Jephthah, Judges XI, 1-11, 30- 

XII. 

36. The Life and Death of Samson, Judges XIII-XVI. 

37. The Story of Ruth and Naomi, Ruth I-IV. 

38. The Calling of Samuel, 1 Samuel III. 

39. The Ark of the Covenant in Philistia, 1 Samuel IV-VI. 

40. The Anointing of Saul, 1 Samuel VIII-X. 

41. Jonathan and His Armorbearer, 1 Samuel XIV, 1-23. 

42. SauPs Disobedience, 1 Samuel XV. 

43. The Anointing of David, 1 Samuel XVI. 

44. The Story of David and Goliath, 1 Samuel XVII-XVIII, 

16. 

45. The Friendship of David and Jonathan, 1 Samuel XVIII, 

1-5; XX. 

46. Stories of David and Saul, 1 Samuel XXI-XXIV; 

XXVI-XXVII, 4. 

47. Saul and the Witch of Endor, 1 Samuel XXVIII. 

48. Death of Saul and Jonathan, 1 Samuel XXXI-2 Samuel I. 

49. David Made King, 2 Samuel V. 

50. The Story of David and Bathsheba, 2 Samuel XI-XII, 

24. 

51. Early Career of Absalom, 2 Samuel XIII-XIV, 24. 

52. The Rebellion of Absalom, 2 Samuel XIV, 25-XVIII, 

33. 

53. The Devotion of Rizpah, 2 Samuel XXI, 1-14. 

54. Solomon Made King, 1 Kings I, 11-53. 

55. The Wisdom of Solomon, 1 Kings III, 5-28. 

56. The Visit of the Queen of Sheba, 1 Kings X, 1-13. 

57. Division of the Kingdom — Rehoboam and Jeroboam, 1 

Kings XI, 26-XII, 24. 

58. Stories of Elijah, 1 Kings, XVII-XIX. 

59. Ahab Secures Naboth's Vineyard, 1 Kings XXI. 

60. The Death of Ahab, 1 Kings XXII, 29-40. 

61. The Translation of Elijah, 2 Kings II, 1-18. 



204 APPENDIX 

62. Stories of Elisha, 1 Kings XIX, 19-21; 2 Kings II-IV; 

VIII, 7-15; XIII, 14-21. 

63. The Healing of Naaman the Leper, 2 Kings V. 

64. Elisha and the Syrian King, 2 Kings VI, 8-23. 

65. Elisha and the Siege of Samaria, 2 Kings VI, 24-VII, 20. 

66. Jehu and Jezebel, 2 Kings IX. 

67. Career of the Wicked Athaliah, 2 Kings XI. 

68. The Destruction of Sennacherib, 2 Kings XVIII, 13- 

XIX, 37. 

69. The Healing of Hezekiah, 2 Kings XX. 

70. The Great Reform under Josiah, 2 Kings XXII-XXIII, 

30. 

71. The Call of Isaiah, Isaiah VI. 

72. The Capture of Jerusalem, 2 Kings XXV. 

73. Esther, a Drama of the Court, Esther I-X. 

74. Daniel and His Three Friends, Daniel I. 

75. Nebuchadnezzar's Forgotten Dream, Daniel II. 

76. The Burning Fiery Furnace, Daniel III. 

77. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Tree Cut Down, Daniel 

IV. 

78. The Story of Belshazzar's Feast, Daniel V. 

79. Daniel in the Den of Lions, Daniel VI. 

80. The Story of Jonah, Book of Jonah. 



SECTION 5 

THE BIBLE STUDENT *S LIBRARY 

First, the student must have a Bible dictionary. The best 
one is Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible 7 five volumes, pub- 
lished by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, $6.00 a volume. 
The same author and publisher issue a single-volume diction- 
ary at $5.00. Another good reference book is the Standard 
Dictionary of the Bible, in one volume, published by Funk 
& Wagnalls, New York. 

Very useful special editions of the books of the Bible are 
the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, prices from 
40 cents to $2.00 a volume, and the Modern Reader's Bible, 
edited by Dr. Richard G. Moulton, in modern literary form, 
and published by The Macmillan Company, in small vol- 
umes at 50 cents. There is also a single-volume edition at 
$3.00 and $5.00. 

For a study of literary interpretation the following books 
are helpful: 

"The Old Testament and Its Contents/' by Prof. James 



LIST OF STORIES 205 

Robertson, D.D., published by the Fleming H. Revell Com- 
pany, New York. 

"The Bible as English Literature," by Prof. J. H. Gardner, 
published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 

"The Bible as Literature," by Dr. R. G. Moulton, published 
by D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. 

Along with the study of the literature of the Bible must go 
the study of the history of the Hebrew people. For this study 
the following books are excellent and authoritative: 

"Old Testament History," by H. P. Smith, published by 
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, $2.50. 

"Old Testament History," by G. W. Wade, published by 
E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, $1.50. 

"History of the People of Israel," by C. H. Cornill, pub- 
lished by the Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago, $1.50. 

"How to Master the English Bible," by Rev. Dr. James M. 
Gray, published by the Winona Publishing Co., Chicago. 
(Particularly valuable for an elaboration of the suggestions 
found on pages 23 and 24 of this volume). 



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